State Ex Rel. Coll v. Johnson

OPINION

FRANCHINI, Justice.

{1} The plaintiffs in this case are four members of the New Mexico House of Representatives, five private citizens, and a nonprofit corporation (Plaintiffs). Plaintiffs filed this action in district court, attacking the legality of legislation authorizing Indian gaming in New Mexico. See NMSA 1978, §§ 11-13-1 and 11-13-2 (1997) (“HB 399”). We hold that the matter must be dismissed because the Plaintiffs cannot join certain indispensable parties, namely the various Tribes and Pueblos that have gaming compacts with the state. We also reverse the district court’s…