After arriving without a warrant, authorities destroyed plants and gardens and dismantled equipment, the Round Valley Indian Tribe said in a lawsuit last year.
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A federal judge has dismissed most claims against two California sheriffs and the California Highway Patrol in a lawsuit claiming deputies illegally raided tribal land.
The Round Valley Indian Tribe sued Humboldt and Mendocino counties, their sheriffs and the California Highway Patrol last April, claiming officers had unlawfully carried out a series of raids on their properties without warrants and destroyed hundreds of cannabis plants.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Illman dismissed plaintiffs’ claims that the searches interfered with trivial sovereignty or were unlawful under Public Law 280, a federal statute that allows the state limited criminal jurisdiction on tribal land.
Additionally, Illman dismissed any elements of other claims that “rely on the contention that the underlying searches were illegal because defendants lacked enforcement jurisdiction.”
“When the state has jurisdiction to enforce a criminal law on a reservation, inherent tribal sovereignty does not prevent state law enforcement from investigating and prosecuting those laws,” he said in his order, released Jan. 29.
However, the judge did keep the plaintiffs’ civil rights claims alive, finding that the Round Valley Indian Tribe qualifies as a “person” and thus can bring equal protection claims against the defendants.
“The FAC asserts that defendants’ selective enforcement of the laws involved discrimination against plaintiffs based on their race,” the judge wrote — “rights that all citizens of California enjoy.”
The judge also ruled there was enough evidence to support negligence and constitutional claims against Mendocino County Sheriff Matthew Kendall.
“Plaintiffs allege that Sheriff Kendall publicly endorsed the raids and pledged to continue similar actions through his social media posts covering the raids, as well as that he directed and coordinated the raids, and that his negligence contributed to the destruction of plaintiffs’ property and violation of their constitutional rights,” Illman wrote. “At this stage, these allegations signal intent on the part of Sheriff Kendall to deprive individual plaintiffs of their constitutional rights.”
Illman likewise said the apparent presence of California Highway Patrol vehicles was “enough to allege CHP involvement in the raid.” Nonetheless, he dismissed CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee as a defendant.
In an interview with Courthouse News, Lester Marston of Rapport & Marston, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that Illman’s order “just got it wrong.”
“The Supreme Court said the shorthanded test is: Is the law that they’re seeking to enforce against the state’s public policy?” Marston said. “Is it against the state’s public policy to cultivate, possess and sell cannabis? No, it’s not.”
“It’s a convoluted opinion which is contradictory and, in my mind, doesn’t make sense,” he added. “So, we’re definitely going to the court of appeals. There’s no doubt about it.”
Representatives for Humboldt and Mendocino counties and their sheriffs, as well as the California Highway Patrol, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs claim the deputies told them they were looking for environmental violations involving “river water, parole violations and illegal cannabis cultivation, sale and manufacturing.”
The plaintiffs further say that the deputies did not present a warrant before searching the property and that they plowed plants, destroyed vegetable gardens with a tractor and dismantled cannabis cultivation instruments. The plaintiffs claim cannabis plants grown on the properties were used for personal medical use and cultivated in compliance with the tribe’s ordinances.
The plaintiffs asked the court to prohibit the defendants from enforcing state cannabis laws against them while they are engaging in cannabis activities on the reservation, in addition to monetary damages.
Judge tosses most claims against law enforcement in suit over cannabis raid in Indian Country
