Bishop Paiute Tribe v. County of Inyo

• Decision Date: 04 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-15007.,01-15007.
• Citation: 291 F.3d 549
• Parties: BISHOP PAIUTE TRIBE, in its official capacity and as a representative of its Tribal members; Bishop Paiute Gaming Corporation, d.b.a. the Paiute Palace Casino, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. COUNTY OF INYO; Phillip McDowell, individually and in his official capacity as District Attorney of the County of Inyo; Daniel Lucas, individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of the County of Inyo, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

291 F.3d 549

BISHOP PAIUTE TRIBE, in its official capacity and as a representative of its Tribal members; Bishop Paiute Gaming Corporation, d.b.a. the Paiute Palace Casino, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. COUNTY OF INYO; Phillip McDowell, individually and in his official capacity as District Attorney of the County of Inyo; Daniel Lucas, individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of the County of Inyo, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 01-15007.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted October 9, 2001.

Filed January 4, 2002.

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Ralph LePera, Bishop, California (argued) and Anna Kimber, San Diego, California (brief), for the plaintiffs-appellants.

John D. Kirby, Special Legal Counsel, County Counsel's Office, Independence, California, for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Robert E. Coyle, Senior District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-00-6153-REC/LJO.

Before: PREGERSON and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges, and WEINER,^* District Judge.

PREGERSON, Circuit Judge:

On March 23, 2000, the District Attorney for the County of Inyo ("District Attorney") and the Sheriff for the County of Inyo ("Sheriff") obtained and executed a warrant to search Bishop Paiute Gaming Corporation ("Corporation") employee records held in the possession and control of the Bishop Paiute Tribe ("Tribe") in Bishop, California, as part of a welfare fraud investigation. The Tribe and the Corporation brought suit against the County of Inyo ("County"), the District Attorney, and the Sheriff (collectively "Defendants") under federal and state law seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, and damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

The District Court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss on each of the Plaintiffs' claims. On appeal, the Tribe raises several arguments concerning the authority of the County to obtain and execute a search warrant against the Tribe. First, the Tribe argues that Public Law 280 — which grants California criminal jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Indians — does not waive the Tribe's sovereign immunity, and thus the County exceeded its jurisdiction when it obtained and executed a search warrant against the Tribe. The Tribe also argues that the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act preempts any jurisdiction the State of California might have to apply and enforce California's laws against the Tribe. Further, the Tribe argues that California has no jurisdiction over Indian lands pursuant to Public Law 280 because the California legislature has not specifically enacted legislation accepting such jurisdiction. Finally, the Tribe asserts that Public Law 280 is invalid because the Tenth Amendment precludes Congress from directing California to assume criminal jurisdiction over Indian lands.

The Tribe also seeks damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on the ground that the County and its agents violated the constitutional and civil rights of the Tribe when the District Attorney and Sheriff knowingly obtained and executed a search warrant in excess of their jurisdiction.

We find that the County and its agents violated the Tribe's sovereign immunity when they obtained and executed a search warrant against the Tribe and tribal property. We also find that the county District Attorney and Sheriff acted as county officers when they obtained and executed a search warrant over tribal property, thus subjecting the County to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Finally, we find that neither the District Attorney nor the Sheriff is entitled to qualified immunity because they violated clearly established law by executing a warrant outside of their jurisdiction. With respect to these conclusions, we reverse the District Court. With respect to the Tribe's remaining arguments concerning the County's authority to obtain and execute a warrant against the Tribe, we affirm the District Court.

A.

The Bishop Paiute Tribe ("Tribe") is a federally recognized tribe located on the Bishop Paiute Reservation in Bishop, California. The Bishop Paiute Gaming Corporation ("Corporation") is a tribally-chartered corporation wholly owned by the Tribe. The Corporation's sole purpose is to operate and manage Class II and Class III gaming, pursuant to a Tribal-State Compact, and under the legal authority of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. The gaming facility is known as the Paiute Palace Casino ("Casino").

Shortly after February 14, 2000, personnel for the Casino received a request from the County of Inyo District Attorney's Office for records of three tribal member Casino employees. The stated purpose for the records was the County's investigation into alleged welfare fraud. On February 28, 2000, the Tribe's attorney informed the District Attorney that it was the Tribe's long-standing policy that the information requested would not be released unless the Tribe was authorized to do so in writing by the employees whose records were sought.

On March 22, 2000, Leslie Nixon, a peace officer with the District Attorney's Office, executed an affidavit in support of the issuance of a search warrant. The affidavit stated that she had reasonable and probable cause for believing that the employees' records would demonstrate that the three individuals had committed welfare fraud by receiving public assistance while employed. The affidavit stated that the three individuals had received such public assistance through the Inyo County Department of Health and Human Services during the period of April 1998 through June 1998.

Based on this affidavit, the Inyo County Superior Court issued a search warrant on March 23, 2000 authorizing a search of the Casino for the limited purpose of obtaining payroll records for the three tribal member Casino employees. The search warrant was executed that same day by the District Attorney for the County of Inyo, Phillip McDowell ("District Attorney"), and Sheriff for the County of Inyo, Daniel Lucas ("Sheriff"). Deadbolt cutters were used to cut locks off secured facilities containing confidential personnel records.

The District Attorney and Sheriff seized two types of payroll records: the first consisted of time card entries, payroll registers, and payroll check registers; the second consisted of quarterly payroll tax information which the Tribe had earlier submitted to the State of California in its California State Quarterly Wage and Withholding Reports.

Despite the limited scope of the search warrant, the documents seized contained confidential information concerning seventy-eight other tribal member Casino employees who were not the subject of the warrant, in addition to information concerning the named three individuals. The District Attorney and the Sheriff failed to give the Tribe an opportunity to redact from the seized records this information not specified or identified by the terms and conditions of the search warrant. Additionally, at the time of the search, the Tribe asserted that the state court did not have jurisdiction to enforce a warrant against a sovereign tribe.

Subsequent to July 13, 2000, the Tribe's attorney received correspondence from the District Attorney indicating that the County wished to obtain personnel records for six additional tribal member Casino employees for the period of July 1999 through July 2000. The Tribe's attorney informed the District Attorney that the Tribe would be willing to accept, as evidence of the employees' consent to release the information requested, a redacted copy of the last page of the signed county welfare application which indicated that the employment records of individuals applying for public assistance were subject to review by county officials. This offer was refused by the District Attorney.

The Tribe filed its complaint on August 4, 2000, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief and damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On November 22, 2000, the District Court for the Eastern District of California granted Defendants' motion to dismiss. The District Court reached its decision on the grounds that: (1) the Tribe's sovereign immunity did not prohibit execution of the search warrant against the Tribe; (2) IGRA, which concerns gaming activities, does not preempt Public Law 280; (3) California was not required to enact enabling legislation before Public Law 280 became effective; (4) Public Law 280 does not violate the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; (5) the District Attorney and Sheriff acted as state officers and thus the County is not liable for their conduct; and, (6) the District Attorney and Sheriff are entitled to qualified immunity and thus not liable in their personal capacities.

For the following reasons, we reverse the District Court order as to its conclusion that the Tribe's sovereign immunity was not violated by the issuance and execution of the warrant, and as to the District Court's conclusion that the Tribe was not entitled to damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. As to the other conclusions reached by the District Court, we affirm.

B.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW.

The Tribe challenges the District Court Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule 12(b)(6). We review the District Court's dismissal for failure to state a claim de novo. See Steckman v. Hart Brewing, Inc., 143 F.3d 1293, 1295 (9th Cir.1998) (noting that "a complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond a doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief"). We review the issue of whether a tribe has sovereign immunity de novo. Burlington N. R.Co. v. Blackfeet Tribe, 924 F.2d 899, 901 (9th Cir.1991). On review of a denial of a motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity, we have jurisdiction only to decide if defendant's conduct violated clearly established constitutional rights. Pelletier v. Federal Home Loan...