Lawyer to seek review of Ninth Circuit court's ruling on cockfighting ban in the CNMI and other US territories
By Jayvee Vallejera
The once bustling cockfighting arena in Gualo Rai along Middle Road on Saipan has been idle since being shuttered in 2019. It now seems fated to be torn down after a Ninth Circuit decision has sustained the ban on cockfighting in U.S. territories.
Writing for the three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Lucy H. Koh said the federal government's interests in animal welfare outweigh any degree of intrusion into the territory’s internal affairs.
The decision also examined sections of the Covenant agreement, which outline the relationship between the Northern Marianas and the United States and how federal laws apply to the territory.
Besides Koh, the other judges on the panel were Richard A. Paez and Milan D. Smith Jr.
The ban is contained in the Agriculture Improvement Act, which former President Donald Trump signed into law in 2018. It became effective in 2019.
Saipan resident Andrew Sablan Salas, a former member of the CNMI House of Representatives who previously served as Commerce secretary, had argued against the ban, saying it was contrary to certain provisions of the Covenant.
The Ninth Circuit ruling, however, highlighted the importance of federal interests in regulating animal fighting and preventing the spread of avian flu. It also sought to address the balancing test between federal interests and intrusion into the CNMI's internal affairs.
Koh, who wrote the opinion for the Ninth Circuit, affirmed that the federal interests served by the laws outweigh any intrusion into CNMI's internal affairs. The panel affirmed the judgment, with Paez concurring but disagreeing on the interpretation of the Covenant.
Salas’ lawyer, Joseph Horey, looked at that point of disagreement as a way in. He pointed out that the appellate judges wrote two separate opinions, disagreeing with each other in their analysis of the case. He said both opinions came to the wrong conclusion in the end, but characterized Paez' approach in concurrence to have been “much more well-reasoned most of the way.”
“It encourages us to seek review of the decision by the full court. That will be our next step,” said Horey in an email message when sought for comments.
He emphasized that the Ninth Circuit’s decision is not the end for Salas’ advocacy and that they still have other avenues to pursue.
“The court's ruling is obviously a disappointment, but here in the CNMI we've known for a long time that the defense of our right to self-government is a long, rough road, so we can’t be deterred by the obstacles we will inevitably meet along the way,” Horey said. “This is absolutely not the end of the line.”
At issue were the Covenant's sections 502 and 105, which were examined to determine the applicability of the Animal Welfare Act, which bans cockfighting in all U.S. states except the U.S. territories. The Agriculture Improvement Act amended AWA and extended the ban to all U.S. territories in 2018 and prohibited cockfighting in all U.S. jurisdictions.
Salas sued to have the ban overturned. In the initial lawsuit he filed in the U.S. District Court for the NMI in 2022, he argued that the Covenant nullified the application of the amendment to the CNMI.
Saipan’s only licensed cockfighting arena has reportedly found illegal cockfighting operations throughout Saipan. While there has been no police confirmation, anecdotes point to underground cockfighting in Koblerville, San Antonio, Kannat Tabla, Kagman, Capitol Hill, Tanapag and San Roque.
One of Salas’ main arguments against applying the Agriculture Improvement Act in the CNMI is that cockfighting has cultural significance in the Northern Marianas.
In the initial lawsuit, he argued that the ban intruded on a “popular and traditional recreational activity” and imposed “a moral and cultural standard that has not prevailed there through local democratic process.”
The Pacific Island Times tried to obtain comments from Salas about the decision, but he has yet to respond to the email request as of press time.
Similar lawsuits in Guam and Puerto Rico have also been dismissed.
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