The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed a lower court's ruling that Keystone Redevelopment Partners LLC, the company Donald Trump formed in a failed bid to open a casino in Nicetown, could challenge the 2006 decision of the state Gaming Control Board to not grant him a license.
The three-judge panel, which heard arguments on the case in November, ruled that the Gaming Control Board has "quasi-judicial immunity" when acting on its duties to license and regulate casinos in Pennsylvania. Trump had claimed the board improperly considered his business interests in Atlantic City when deciding on five applications for two casino licenses in Philadelphia.
"This finding was premised on the institutional safeguards and processes which the Board has built and implemented to project the impartiality and integrity of the decision-making process," said Doug Sherman, the board's chief counsel. "The Board has been resolute in its determination to avoid partisanship and inappropriate influence in its decisions, and believes that the Court's decision today is an affirmation that its processes are accomplishing the goal."
An attorney for Keystone, aka Trump, declined to comment when reached by phone today. Keystone has two weeks to appeal for a rehearing.