REGION: New laws apply on the Rincon reservation

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer | Friday, July 25, 2008 10:05 PM PDT ∞

At the Rincon Indian Reservation, kids hang out all night getting into fights, people shoot guns in the streets and trespassers dump furniture, oil drums and puppies ---- all with relative impunity.

But that's changing.

A new set of tribal codes that took effect July 1, along with a maturing tribal court system, may succeed in reining in the kind of behavior that most cities and counties have regulated with ordinances, tribal spokesperson Nikki Symington said.

"The reservations have gained a reputation for lawlessness, and it's been true," she said. "For the first time, we've got due process that protects individual rights while establishing community standards of behavior."

The new laws mark the first time that the tribe has tried to legally enforce its own code of behavior, Symington said.

The Sheriff's Department provides law enforcement for Rincon, but deputies can enforce only the California criminal code.

Those laws say little about such things as how late a loud party can run, refinements usually regulated by county and local ordinances.

But now, with its own laws, police and court, the tribe can enforce a ban on undesirable acts, Symington said.

A range of fines

Rincon's new laws, called the Peace and Security Ordinance, are a set of civil codes that establish fines for offenses such as vandalism, trespassing, curfew violations, drug use and loud parties.

The codes apply to anyone on the 5,000-acre Valley Center reservation, including visitors, 300 tribal residents and 1,200 nontribal residents, she said.

The laws were developed to address problems involving residents and trespassers and won't affect most casino patrons, Symington said.

Private security guards and sheriff's deputies will continue to enforce laws at Harrah's Rincon Casino, she said.

But anyone who speeds on tribal roads may be stopped by tribal law enforcement under the new code, she said.

Under the new ordinance, tribal law enforcement and sheriff's deputies will enforce different laws on the reservation ---- deputies, state criminal law; tribal police, the civil code.

Violators of the civil code will be issued citations by Rincon law enforcement.

Fines range from $50 for loitering to $2,000 for harboring a fugitive.

The citations will be adjudicated in the Intertribal Court of Southern California, a two-year-old tribal circuit court headquartered in Escondido, but moving soon to Valley Center.

Because Rincon and other tribes lack the basic trappings of dealing with criminals ---- jails, for example ---- and have no criminal jurisdiction over nontribal members under federal law, civil penalties are the best option for keeping order, Symington said.

Some of the tribe's laws are similar to California criminal laws; both make selling drugs illegal. The purpose of the overlap is to give the tribe a role in dealing with problems itself, instead of relying on the Sheriff's Department, Symington said.

Lt. Sean Garrity, of the Valley Center Sheriff's Substation, which serves the reservation, said he supports any codes that promote public safety.

"When I go into Indian country, I have only the state laws that are applicable," said Garrity, whose deputies also serve the Pala, Pauma, San Pasqual and La Jolla reservations. "We have limitations on what we can do with curfew, with firing a gun."

Under Rincon's new ordinance, people under 18 have to be home by 10 p.m., and firearms may be discharged only on private property or on the tribal firing range.

Past problems and a new court

Nontribal members are usually surprised when they learn that California reservations have lacked such basic codes, Symington said.

But since 1963, when a federal law called Public Law 280 put California tribal law enforcement in the hands of the state, sheriff's departments have enforced only state laws on tribal lands.

Deputies and the California courts have no jurisdiction over any laws that the tribes might establish.

Under PL 280, tribes have retained some right to adopt and enforce their own laws, but they generally have been hampered by a lack of funding, experts say.

But recently, a number of factors have helped the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians and other tribes oversee some of their own law enforcement.

A 2005 Department of Justice grant helped establish the Southern California Intertribal Court, which currently serves 11 tribes, including Rincon, and provides due process for enforcing tribal codes.

With the advent of casinos, gaming money has allowed tribes to hire their own tribal law enforcement, Symington said.

Rincon joins several other North County reservations ---- including La Jolla and Pala ---- in adopting tribal ordinances. The La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians adopted a Peace and Security Ordinance in 2005, former tribal Chairman Tracy Nelson said.

At that time, the nongaming tribe of about 700 members got money for tribal law enforcement from the same Department of Justice grant that funded the Intertribal Court, he said.

With police, a court and laws, the tribe was able to significantly curtail underage drinking on the reservation, Nelson said.

The Intertribal Court's chief judge, Anthony Brandenburg, said the court has heard between eight and 15 civil violations each month from the Pala and La Jolla tribes over the last year.

The respondents have been tribal and nontribal members.

The retired Superior Court judge said the court has been a successful joint venue for tribes that are too small to establish neutral courts. Before the court was established, most tribes' leadership councils had the final word.

"Establishing this court is the wisest thing tribes have done in years, because truthfully, everybody's related in a tribe," he said. "Now, with an independent judge, the politics are gone."

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com.