A federal judge in California has agreed to determine whether two women who were banished from their tribe had their civil rights violated.

Charlotte Berna and Roselind Quair were kicked out of the Tachi-Yokut Tribe in June 2000. They were accused of taking against that threatened the tribe.

The women sued under the Indian Civil Right Act of 1968, using a provision that prohibits unlawful detention. Relying on a case from the 2nd Circuit, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Coyle said that banishment was a form of imprisonment.

Coyle will only rule on whether the tribe violated ICRA's due process guarantees for the two women.

Last month, a state judge agreed to take on a disenrollment dispute for another California tribe. That case is based on Public Law 280.

Get the Story:
Judge says court has jurisdiction in tribal membership case (AP 8/5)

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