Dear Editor:
The Tule Lake Committee sued the Modoc Nation and the City of Tulelake over the sale by the county to the Nation of Tulelake Municipal Airport. On June 4, 2024, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of the committee’s lawsuit.
The Tule Lake Committee was formed to represent the interests of the survivors and descendants of the thousands of Japanese Americans imprisoned at Tule Lake during World War II. The Modoc Nation acquired the property as part of its effort to restore to recover land confiscated by the U.S. government.
In 2018 Modoc County sold the airport to the Modoc Nation. Tule Lake Committee filed suit against the tribe and the county in 2020 to void the sale. The Superior Court ruled that tribal sovereign immunity to suit under federal law precludes lawsuits against Native American nations over the validity of contracts.
The Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that tribal sovereign immunity applies even though the contract concerns land — the airport — that was at the time on tribal or reservation property. The Court of Appeal opinion is “not published” and cannot be cited as precedent in other cases.
Tule Lake Committee may seek review by the Supreme Court of California, but it is entirely discretionary with that court whether to accept a case for review; few petitions for review are granted.
Gerald Masahiro Sato