Comanche Nation v. Ware

── Comanche Nation v. Ware ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 21, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 24-6221 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 21, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ COMANCHE NATION, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 24-6221 LORI GOODAY WARE, individually and in her official capacity as FSAT Chairwoman; PAMELA EAGLESHIELD, individually and in her official capacity as FSAT Vice-Chairman; JAMES DEMPSEY, individually and in his official capacity as FSAT Secretary-Treasurer; JEANETTE MANN, individually and in her official capacity as FSAT Committee Member; JENNIFER HEMINOKEKY, individually and in her official capacity as FSAT Committee Member; DOLLY LORETTA BUCKNER, individually and in her official capacity as FSAT Committee Member; PHILIP KOSZAREK, individually and in his official capacity as FSAGC Chairman; NAOMI HARFORD, individually and in her official capacity as FSAGC Vice-Chairman; MICHAEL CRUMP, individually and in his official capacity as FSAGC Commissioner; LAUREN PINOLA, individually and in her official capacity as FSAGC Commissioner; DEBBIE BAKER, individually and in her official capacity as FSAGC Commissioner, Defendants - Appellants, and  Appellate Case: 24-6221 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 2 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; BRYAN NEWLAND, in his official capacity as Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs; DARRYL LACOUNTE, in his official capacity as Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; SEQUOYAH SIMERMEYER, in his official capacity as Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, Defendants. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (D.C. No. 5:22-CV-00425-G) _________________________________ R. Daniel Carter, Foster Garvey, P.C., Tulsa, Oklahoma (Kelly A. Mennemeier and Devra R. Cohen, Foster Garvey, P.C., Seattle, Washington, with him on the briefs) for Defendants-Appellants. Wilson Pipestem, Pipestem Law, P.C., Tulsa, Oklahoma (Harvey D. Ellis, Crowe & Dunlevy, PC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and D. Michael McBride III, Randall J. Yates, and Logan C. Hibbs, Crowe & Dunlevy, P.C., Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the brief) for Plaintiff-Appellee. _________________________________ Before HARTZ, TYMKOVICH, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ The Fort Sill Apache Tribe opened the Warm Springs Casino near Lawton, Oklahoma in 2022. Several miles away, the Comanche Nation operates its own casinos—the Spur Casino and the Comanche Casino. The resulting competition made the Nation’s casinos less profitable. Contending the Warm Springs Casino was 2  Appellate Case: 24-6221 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 04/21/2026 Page: 3 opened in violation of federal law, the Comanche Nation sued officials of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe to enjoin operation of the casino. The Nation also seeks monetary damages against the defendants in their individual capacities. The Officials moved to dismiss the claims, raising tribal sovereign immunity. The district court denied that motion to dismiss. The Officials appe