When Rita Carls of El Dorado Hills sued her homebuilder for shoddy construction, she never imagined she'd be in a head-to-head battle with an Indian tribe over sovereign immunity.
Even more bewildering to Carls, now 69, and her family: Her home was built on non-tribal land, purchased from a non-tribal business, and the tribe she's fighting in court is located hundreds of miles away in Humboldt County.
Concerned that what happened to Carls could happen to any Californian, the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, which specializes in property rights litigation, is trying to take her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys with the foundation say Carls is a victim of tribal sovereign immunity gone awry and the case could provide the court with an opportunity to clarify the doctrine's scope.
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PLF Takes EDH Homeowner V. Tribe
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