Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians
Pursuant to a search warrant, the sheriff of Inyo County searched the payroll records of a casino owned by the Paiute-Shoshone Indian tribe as part of a welfare fraud investigation. The tribe sought injunctive and declaratory relief, which the district court denied. The court of appeals reversed, finding that the search violated the tribe’s sovereign immunity and denying the county officers’ qualified immunity defense.
Questions Presented:
1. Whether the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity enables Indian tribes, their gambling casinos and other commercial businesses to prohibit the searching of their property by law enforcement
officers for criminal evidence pertaining to the commission of off-reservation state crimes, when the search is pursuant to a search warrant issued upon probable cause.
2. Whether such a search by state law enforcement officers constitutes a violation of the tribe’s civil rights that is actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
3. Whether, if such a search is actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the State law enforcement officers who
conducted the search pursuant to the warrant are nonetheless entitled to the defense of qualified immunity.
Decisions under Review
U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit, Order Amending Opinion and Denying Petition for Rehearing En Banc
