That case involved Public Law 280 which allowed a “handful of States to enforce some of their criminal-but not certain of their civil-laws on particular tribal lands.” Applying the statute to Indian gaming Court held that, if a state law prohibits a particular game, it falls within Public Law 280’s grant of criminal jurisdiction and a state may prohibit the game on tribal lands. Six months before Congress passed the Ysleta del Sur and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration (Restoration Act) the U.S. Under Texas law bingo is permissible “only for charitable purposes and only subject to a broad array of regulations.” In 2016 it began to allow electronic bingo until Texas shut down its operations. The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is one of three federally recognized Indian Tribes in Texas.
Supreme Court held 5-4 that per the Restoration Act Texas may only prohibit particular types of gaming on Indian reservations where Texas law prohibits that type of gaming throughout the rest of the state.
