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Jamulians Against the Casino |
Federal judge affirms tribe's right to sue state
FEDERAL COURT:A San Diego federal judge has rejected a bid by state highway officials to dismiss a lawsuit by an Indian tribe that wants to build a casino in Jamul without going through a lengthy environmental process to get road access.
Judge Dana Sabraw ruled Friday that the state's sovereign immunity doesn't prevent the state from being sued by the tribe, known as the Jamul Indian Village.
He did not rule on the merits of the case, in which tribal officials say the state is illegally threatening to cut off access to their reservation unless they submit casino plans for review.
For its casino, the tribe wants to use a driveway that has long connected its reservation to state Route 94. Caltrans officials say the driveway is at a dangerous location.
The judge gave Caltrans 20 days to answer the lawsuit, in which tribal leaders are seeking an injunction to prevent the agency from blocking access. Caltrans has said it would do so if it doesn't get the documents it wants.
The tribe says that federal law and tribal immunity prevent the state from regulating what it does on its reservation, and asking for details of its casino plans is illegal.
Caltrans officials say they are required to watch out for the safety of motorists, and can't approve a casino driveway without evaluating its effect on the road. -O.R.S.
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Tribe sues for casino
JAMUL, Calif. - A federally recognized tribe has filed a complaint against California's highway management agency alleging it is imposing state laws and threatening to restrict access to a proposed casino site on sovereign Indian land. Additionally, the five-member council of the Jamul Indian Village claims that the California Department of Transportation has been successfully pressured to halt their casino plans by non-Native residents living in the rural bedroom community that surrounds the casino site and their reservation 25 minutes east of downtown San Diego. The transportation department that goes by the name "Caltrans" said it has some jurisdiction over the construction of the project bolstered by potential safety concerns on a state highway that could stem from the casino's construction and operation. The complaint filed in U.S. Southern District Court in October is the latest development in a heated saga playing out in casino-heavy San Diego County for nearly a decade. Article Link | |
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JAC Community Alert
SDGE Substation Proposal
In August we told you of the unveiling of SDG&E's plans for a major substation and transmission lines they are planning to build in the center of downtown Jamul. The substation will supposedly be hidden by a 16-18 ft. block wall. The planned transmission lines from Rancho San Diego to Jamul would be steel poles, gunmetal gray or rust brown, 65 to 80 ft. tall and proposed to follow highway 94.
At the most recent Planning Group meeting SDG&E was asked if they would abandon the Simpson property for which they spent $1,00,000 for 3.75 acres and work with the community to find a better location for a substation. The sub-committee members were told categorically "No, we will not abandon the Maxfield, Proctor Valley location."
Please attend the next sub-committee meeting on January 27th at 6pm at the Oak Grove Middle School Library. |
Recent Articles
Sycuan bingo machines modified for law
Game operation changed to differentiate from slots
EAST COUNTY - Sycuan has quietly changed the way some gambling machines in its casino work, to bring them in line with the view of regulators who were looking at whether the tribe had violated its compact with the state. But tribal officials say they don't believe there was anything wrong with the way the bingo-based machines were operating for most of the past year. The question was whether modifying the machines to play with one press of a button - instead of two - made them slot machines in the eyes of regulators. If so, the casino was offering more slot machines than the 2,000 allowed under a compact it signed with the state in 1999. Investigators with the California Gambling Control Commission visited Sycuan in June and said the more-than 200 machines that operated that way put the gambling hall over the limit. Read More...
San Pasqual band denied bid to eject members
VALLEY CENTER - The Bureau of Indian Affairs has denied the San Pasqual Indian band's bid to eject about 60 members, but said the tribe can appeal the decision about the disputed members' ancestry. Many tribes determine membership issues on their own, but San Pasqual's constitution gives the BIA that responsibility. It's unclear what the decision means to an ongoing tribal leadership split that is threatening the tribe's government and its ability to operate the Valley View Casino. "I haven't talked to the tribe yet," James Fletcher, Southern California superintendent for the BIA, said Monday. "My position is going to be the same." Read More...
San Pasqual band members barred from voting
Family whose enrollment is in dispute blocked from tribal elections
San Pasqual's chairman instructed tribal security officials and sheriff's deputies to block about 50 members from voting in Sunday's elections, a possible violation of their civil rights, according to a federal official. Angela Martinez-McNeal said she and her family were prevented from entering the facility where elections were held because the chairman, Allen Lawson, and his supporters say they are not valid members of the tribe. "They treated us like criminals," Martinez said Monday. Lawson, who apparently won re-election Sunday, declined to comment on the matter. The Valley Center-area tribe, which has about 300 members, owns Valley View Casino. A spokeswoman at the Sheriff's Valley Center Substation declined to comment on the incident and referred questions to the tribe, which has a contract with the department for law enforcement service. Lt. Phil Brust, a spokesman for the department in San Diego, could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Read More... |
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