California Supreme Court allows Fair Political Practices Commission lawsuit against Indian tribe

By Julia Cheever, Bay City News Service

December 22, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The California Supreme Court ruled by a close 4-3 vote yesterday that a state agency can sue an Indian tribe for allegedly failing to file prompt reports of millions of dollars in political campaign contributions.

The court majority rejected arguments by the Palm Springs-based Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians that it is immune from being sued because it is a sovereign nation.

The court said that the U.S. Constitution's guarantee that states can have a republican form of government allows for an exception to the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Justice Ming Chin said California is entitled to enforce its fair political campaign laws by suing the tribe.

The decision was issued in San Francisco in a lawsuit filed in Sacramento County Superior Court against the tribe by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission.

The agency alleged the tribe failed to meet deadlines and other requirements for reporting $8.5 million in contributions to political campaigns for candidates and initiatives between 1998 and 2002.

The tribe, one of the richest in the state, has about 400 members and owns 31,500 acres of land in the Palm Springs area, where it runs two casinos.

Chin wrote in the majority opinion, "Allowing tribal members to participate in our state electoral process while leaving the state powerless to effectively guard against political corruption puts the state in an untenable and indefensible position without recourse."

Chin emphasized that the immunity exception created by the ruling was narrow and applies only to lawsuits filed by the FPPC against a tribe.

The court majority upheld similar rulings by a Sacramento Superior Court trial judge and a Court of Appeal panel.

Justice Carlos Moreno said in a dissent that it should be up to Congress to make any changes in the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

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