Judge sets trial date for Seminole lawsuit against Florida

The odds of the Seminole Tribe keeping blackjack at its casinos get even better.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle scheduled a trial date for the Seminole Tribe’s lawsuit against the state of Florida in July. The two-week trial will determine whether or not the Seminoles can continue to have blackjack tables at their casinos.

Last week, Hinkle rejected Florida AG Pam Bondi’s bid to dismiss the Seminole’s case.

“The contention is plainly wrong,” Hinkle wrote in his five-page order. “Any reading of the act that would suggest a state has no duty to negotiate at that time would make no sense — it would mean that when a state’s first compact with a tribe ended, the state would be relieved of any obligation to negotiate a new or extended compact.”