Here is the opinion in Jeffredo v. Macarro. There was a dissent (by a district court judge sitting by designation), however, which seemed to focus on the apparent “greed” of the Pechanga people in disenrolling tribal members.
Here are the briefs:
An excerpt from the majority:
The Pechanga Band of the Luiseño Mission Indians (“Pechanga Tribe”) disenrolled a number of its members (“Appellants”) for failing to prove their lineal descent as members of the Tribe. Federal courts generally lack jurisdiction to consider any appeal from the decision of an Indian tribe to disenroll one of its members. See Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 72 n.32 (1978). Appellants, therefore, brought this petition for habeas corpus under 25 U.S.C. § 1303 of the Indian Civil Rights Act (“ICRA”), claiming their disenrollment by members of the Pechanga Tribal Council (“Appellees”) was tantamount to an unlawful detention. Despite the novelty of this approach, we nonetheless lack subject matter jurisdiction to consider this claim, because Appellants were not detained. We hold that Appellants cannot bring their claims under § 1303 of the ICRA and therefore affirm the district court.
And from the dissent:
Appellants, enrolled members of the Pechanga Tribe since birth, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) asserting that their Tribal Council violated the due process, equal protection, free speech and cruel and unusual punishment clauses of the Act when it stripped them of membership in the Tribe. The membership criteria that the Tribal Council applied were not established until 1979; the procedures it used to disenroll Tribal members were not established until 1988; and the Tribal Council did not begin disenrolling large numbers of members until recently, when the Tribe’s casino profits became a major source of revenue. Appellants allege that they are victims of the Tribal Council’s greed associated with these casinos.
It is sad when greed takes away from Native Americans. Thank you Mr. Fletcher for adding me to your blog roll, I am a regular reader of Turtle Talk and am glad so many highly accomplished and educated Native Americans like yourself blog. It does the Pokagons such a service to be informed by responsible people. Your services are so appreciated.
The dissenting judge also focused on the detainment issue in her concluding statement:
When viewed together, the act of stripping Appellants’
Tribal citizenship and the current and potential restrictions
placed upon Appellants constitute a severe restraint on their
liberty. Therefore, Appellants have been detained within the
meaning of § 1303. Accordingly, I would reverse and remand
to the district court to hear their petition for a writ of habeas
corpus on its merits.