Because of the decision, the Seminole Tribe was able to build and operate the nation's first tribally-owned high-stakes bingo parlor on their reservation in Florida, even though bingo for profit was illegal under Florida law at the time.

In Seminole Tribe, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the State of Florida did not have authority to enforce the Florida Bingo Statute on the Seminole Tribe of Florida's reservation, even though Florida is a Public Law 280 state with special rights to extend criminal and limited civil jurisdiction over Indian Country. 1981), was a United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit case that significantly influenced the development of modern Indian Gaming law. The State of Florida does not have authority to enforce the Florida Bingo Statute on the Seminole Tribe of Florida's reservation, even though Florida is a Public Law 280 state, because the Bingo Statute is regulatory rather than prohibitory in nature. Robert BUTTERWORTH, the duly elected Sheriff of Broward County, Florida, Defendant-Appellant. SEMINOLE TRIBE OF FLORIDA, an Organized Tribe of Indians, as recognized under and by the Laws of the United States, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Bingo high stakes