Indian tribes can be sued, ruling says

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The California Supreme Court ruled that American-Indian tribes can be sued for violation of campaign disclosure laws.

The justices voted 4-3 in an unprecedented ruling that may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Indian tribes are protected by a federal law that gives them sovereign immunity from lawsuits but the increasing revenue from Indian-run casinos is playing a larger role in state elections, The Los Angeles Times reported Friday. The court cited this and the need to protect the state from corruption as the main reasons for its ruling.

As a result of the ruling, California's Fair Political Practices Commission told the Times it will go ahead with its lawsuit against the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for improperly reporting millions of dollars in campaign contributions in the last eight years. The suit seeks monetary penalties and an injunction.

Historically, the Supreme Court has supported the doctrine of sovereign immunity for American-Indian tribes, the newspaper reported.