Court rejects IPI’s second bid to block revocation hearing

IPI sought an order restraining the CCC and voting on the revocation of its casino licence.

Northern Mariana Islands.- The US district court has declined Imperial Pacific International’s (IPI) second request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) from deliberating on the revocation of its casino licence.

Judge David O. Carter said IPI’s motion did not present significant new facts relevant to the court’s analysis. He highlighted IPI’s failure to specify the roles of certain CCC members, such as chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, in the licence revocation process and rejected the claim that the request was in the public interest.

IPI had claimed that the order would benefit job creation and judicial economy, but Carter found that IPI’s argument for judicial economy lacked credibility because their due process cause of action was unlikely to succeed.

IPI’s revocation hearing will take place on April 9. The hearing was initially scheduled for April 2, but it was postponed due to the motion filed by the casino operator.