Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands v. Isidro R. Lizama

Opinion by Judge RYMER.

This appeal turns on the construction and interpretation of local law by the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). We must decide whether the CNMI Supreme Court violated Isidro Lizama’s due process rights by upholding Regulation 8301, a CNMI Revenue and Taxation Regulation giving customs officials the authority to conduct airport searches. Our review is limited to determining whether the CNMI Supreme Court’s ruling was arbitrary, discriminatory, “untenable or amounts to a subterfuge to avoid federal review of a constitutional violation.” Ferreira v. Borja, 1 F.3d 960, 962 (9th Cir.1993) (quotation marks omitted). We have jurisdiction, 48 U.S.C. § 1694e(a), and we affirm.

I

On June 15, 1991, Lizama arrived at the Saipan airport on a direct flight from the Philippines, carrying a statue that appeared to be freshly painted. A customs officer, later joined by another, ran the statue through an airline’s baggage x-ray machine, drilled several holes in the statue, and eventually cut through the statue’s base and pried it open with a crowbar. The two officers discovered three bags of crystal methamphetamine inside the statue.…