Sears v. Hull
| Decision Date | 16 July 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. CV-97-0477-T,CV-97-0477-T |
| Citation | 192 Ariz. 65,961 P.2d 1013 |
| Parties | , 273 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 36 Paula S. SEARS and Alan E. Sears, wife and husband, on their own behalf and on behalf of their minor children Anna Marie Sears, Rebecca L. Sears, Isaiah S. Sears and Isabella C. Sears, Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. Jane Dee HULL, Governor of Arizona; State of Arizona; and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, an Indian tribe organized under the Indian Reorganized Act of 1934, Defendants/Appellants. /AP |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
¶1 Plaintiffs brought a special action in superior court to enjoin the Governor from entering any gaming compact that permits slot machine or keno gambling with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. We hold that this action must be dismissed because plaintiffs lack standing.
¶2 Because our opinion in Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community v. Hull, 190 Ariz. 97, 945 P.2d 818 (1997), sets forth in detail most of the facts relevant to the instant action, we describe only briefly the facts and procedure leading to this appeal.
¶3 In 1992, the Arizona Legislature enacted Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) § 5-601, which authorized the Governor, acting on the State's behalf, to negotiate gaming compacts with the various Indian tribes of Arizona pursuant to the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Acting pursuant to section 5-601, Governor Symington executed compacts with sixteen of the state's twenty-one tribes. However, relying on his interpretation of Rumsey Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians v. Wilson 1 and Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 2 the Governor refused to negotiate any other tribal gaming compacts. Subsequently, in the 1996 general election, Arizona voters adopted Proposition 201, codified at A.R.S. § 5-601.01, which requires that the Governor enter "the state's standard form of gaming compact with any eligible Indian tribe that requests it." The standard gaming compact includes those provisions that are common to the previously executed compacts, which permit slot machine and keno gambling. See A.R.S. § 5-601.01.B.1.
¶4 The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (the Tribe), an eligible tribe under the terms of Proposition 201, requested that the Governor execute a standard gaming compact. Shortly thereafter, in February 1997, Paula and Alan Sears (the Sears) asked this court to accept jurisdiction over their special action to enjoin Governor Symington from executing the requested gaming compact with the Tribe. We declined to accept jurisdiction. 3
¶5 Governor Symington then responded to the Tribe's request by proposing a compact that differed significantly from the standard compact. The Tribe, dissatisfied with the proposed compact, filed a special action in this court to invoke the requirement of A.R.S. § 5-601.01 that the Governor enter into a standard compact with any eligible tribe that requests it. We accepted jurisdiction and denied the Sears' motion to intervene in that action. 4 We found section 5-601.01 constitutional and held that it required the Governor to enter into the standard gaming compact with the Tribe. Hull, 190 Ariz. at 105, 945 P.2d at 826.
¶6 Prior to our decision in Hull, however, the Sears filed this statutory special action in the superior court against Governor Symington, the State of Arizona, and the Tribe. 5 The Sears argued that IGRA prohibits the Governor from entering any gaming compact that permits slot machine or keno gambling. The Sears asserted that such a compact between the State and the Tribe would result in casino gambling near Scottsdale, which borders the Tribe's reservation. Such gambling, the Sears asserted, would "substantially affect the character and quality of the[ir] community," expose their children to values contrary to their own, and result in "numerous negative secondary effects, including urban crowding, traffic and stresses which will detract from the quality of their immediate community."
¶7 The Tribe moved to dismiss and, alternatively, to stay the proceeding pending the disposition of Hull, arguing that the Sears lacked standing to bring the action and that the dispute was not ripe for decision. The trial court denied both motions. With respect to the standing argument, the court stated that the Sears had standing under A.R.S. § 12-2021, which permits any "beneficially interested" person to sue for mandamus relief. Moreover, the court indicated that because the Sears' claims raised questions of public importance, the court could waive strict standing requirements.
¶8 The court subsequently granted judgment to the Sears and awarded them attorneys' fees. The defendants filed a notice of appeal to the court of appeals. Upon the parties' joint request, we accepted a transfer of the appeal to this court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Constitution, article VI, section 5.
¶9 The threshold question is whether, as defendants argue, the Sears lack standing to bring this action. Because we agree that the plaintiffs lack standing, we do not address the merits of their claims.
¶10 In their complaint, the Sears relied solely on Arizona's mandamus statute, A.R.S. § 12-2021, to provide a jurisdictional basis for their action. That statute states in part:
A writ of mandamus may be issued by the supreme or superior court to any person ... on the verified complaint of the party beneficially interested, to compel, when there is not a plain, adequate and speedy remedy at law, performance of an act which the law specially imposes as a duty resulting from an office, trust or station....
The Sears argue that they need not demonstrate any special injury to bring this action because, under the mandamus statute, they are beneficially interested parties entitled to compel the Governor to fulfill a public duty, i.e., to refuse to enter the standard gaming compact with the Tribe.
¶11 We need not decide whether the Sears are "beneficially interested" within the meaning of section 12-2021 because this action is not appropriate for mandamus. "Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy issued by a court to compel a public officer to perform an act which the law specifically imposes as a duty." Board of Educ. v. Scottsdale Educ. Ass'n, 109 Ariz. 342, 344, 509 P.2d 612, 614 (1973). Mandamus "does not lie if the public officer is not specifically required by law to perform the act." Id. Because a mandamus action is designed to compel performance of an act the law requires, "[t]he general rule is that if the action of a public officer is discretionary that discretion may not be controlled by mandamus." Collins v. Krucker, 56 Ariz. 6, 13, 104 P.2d 176, 179 (1940). In addition, this court has long held that mandamus will lie only "to require public officers to perform their official duties when they refuse to act," and not "to restrain a public official from doing an act." Smoker v. Bolin, 85 Ariz. 171, 173, 333 P.2d 977, 978 (1958). Thus, the requested relief in a mandamus action must be the performance of an act and such act must be non-discretionary.
¶12 This action does not fulfill either of the basic requirements of an action for mandamus. The Sears seek not to compel the Governor to perform an act specifically imposed as a duty but rather to prevent the Governor from acting. Hence, the Sears actually seek injunctive relief, which is not available through an action for mandamus or any other form of special action. See Rule 1, Ariz. R.P. Spec. Acts., 17B A.R.S. (1997).
¶13 The Sears also fail to show that the requested limitation on the Governor's actions involves the performance of a non-discretionary act. They attempt to make this showing by arguing that the provisions of IGRA and of the state and federal constitutions, as interpreted by the Sears, require the Governor to refuse to enter the compact. However, we held in Hull that, as a matter of state law, A.R.S. § 5-601.01 required the Governor to enter a standard compact. Hull, 190 Ariz. at 105, 945 P.2d at 826. Hence, under state law, the Governor's execution of the standard compact cannot be regarded as a failure to perform a duty specifically imposed by law.
¶14 The most the Sears can establish is that they disagree with the Governor's interpretation of A.R.S. § 5-601.01 and of IGRA, and, perhaps, with this court's decision in Hull. That showing, if made, would not entitle the Sears to mandamus relief. If we were to adopt the Sears' argument, virtually any citizen could challenge any action of any public officer under the mandamus statute by claiming that the officer has failed to uphold or fulfill state or federal law, as interpreted by the dissatisfied plaintiff. Such a result would be inconsistent with section 12-2021, which limits a cause of action to beneficially interested parties who seek to compel a public officer to perform "an act which the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Nat. Wildlife Fed. v. Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., Docket No. 121890. Calendar No. 5.
...Comm., 556 Pa. 621, 730 A.2d 935 (1999), In Life of the Land v. Land Use Comm., 63 Haw. 166, 623 P.2d 431 (1981), and Sears v. Hull, 192 Ariz. 65, 961 P.2d 1013 (1998). Of course, this is not to say that, before Lee, Michigan was without standing requirements. Simply, they were more encompa......
-
Brush & Nib Studio, LC v. City of Phx.
...actions in which constitutional relief is sought against the government." Id. at 524, ¶ 16, 81 P.3d at 315 (citing Sears v. Hull , 192 Ariz. 65, 71, 961 P.2d 1013, 1019 (1998) ). Further, although federal law does not govern our standing analysis, we look to federal law as instructive on th......
-
Osage Nation v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Osage Cnty.
...privity with, the prior adjudication in any future lawsuit.).78 Jacobs Ranch, L.L.C. v. Smith, 2006 OK 34, n. 2, 148 P.3d 842.79 Sears v. Hull, 192 Ariz. 65, ¶ 19, 961 P.2d 1013, 1018 (1998) citing Armory Park Neighborhood Ass'n v. Episcopal Community Servs. in Ariz., 148 Ariz. 1, 5, 712 P.......
-
State v. Western Union Financial Services, 1 CA-CV 07-0178.
...has explained that these considerations require at a minimum that each party possess an interest in the outcome. Id.; see also Sears v. Hull, 192 Ariz. 65, 69, ¶ 16, 961 P.2d 1013, 1017 (1998) (holding that standing to bring an action requires plaintiff to "allege a distinct and palpable ¶ ......
-
Gutting Bivens: How the Supreme Court Shielded Federal Officials from Constitutional Litigation.
...are not bound by the "case or controversy" requirement of Article III, [section] 2 of the U.S. Constitution). (348.) Sears v. Hull, 961 P.2d 1013, 1019 (Ariz. 1998) (recognizing that the Arizona courts have waived the traditional standing requirements when a case (i) presents "issues of gre......