Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. Smith

CROSS-MOTIONS FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This case involves a dispute between the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, a federally recognized Indian tribe, and the Sheriff and County of Riverside, California. Plaintiffs, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and Paul D. Hare, in his capacity as Director, Cabazon Public Safety Department, and defendants Larry D. Smith, individually and as Sheriff of Riverside County, Ronald F. Dye, individually and as Captain of the Riverside County Sheriffs Department Indio Station and the County of Riverside have filed cross motions for partial summary judgment as to plaintiffs’ first claim for relief which seeks a declaratory judgment. The issue presented by the parties on these cross motions is whether Public Law 83-280 (herein referred to as “P.L. 280”), enacted by Congress in 1953 and codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1162 , divested the Cabazon Band of the authority to maintain a tribal police force for the purpose of enforcing its internal tribal criminal laws against members of the tribe, as well as detaining non-members of the tribe for the offenses committed on the reservation in order to turn them over to state or local law enforcement officials for…