Wednesday, January 14, 2009

San Pasqual Members DENIED Civil Rights Says BIA Official James Fletcher




UPDATE: The comment link doesn't appear on the page for some reason. Simply click on the title which will bring up the single story and the comments can be accessed from there.



San Pasqual's chairman instructed tribal security officials and sheriff's deputies to block about 50 members from voting in Sunday's elections, a possible violation of their civil rights, according to a federal official.

Angela Martinez-McNeal said she and her family were prevented from entering the facility where elections were held because the chairman, Allen Lawson, and his supporters say they are not valid members of the tribe.

"They treated us like criminals," Martinez said Monday.

Lawson, who apparently won re-election Sunday, declined to comment on the matter.
The Valley Center-area tribe, which has about 300 members, owns Valley View Casino.

A spokeswoman at the Sheriff's Valley Center Substation declined to comment on the incident and referred questions to the tribe, which has a contract with the department for law enforcement service. OP: The Sheriff's won't COMMENT ON THEIR OWN ACTION??

Lt. Phil Brust, a spokesman for the department in San Diego, could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. OP: WHATCHA doing PHIL? HIDING OUT?

Martinez said she and her family received a letter from the tribe's enrollment committee saying they were ineligible to vote because of their disputed official membership in the tribe, even though the federal government tentatively has sided with Martinez and her family. OP: HOW ABOUT NOT HOLDING AN ELECTION UNTIL THE MATTER IS SETTLED?
"The enrollment committee declares and verifies that the disputed Marcus R. Alto Sr., and all of his descendants have been disenrolled and all membership rights have been suspended as part of the disenrollment," according to the letter dated Dec. 29 and provided by Martinez to the North County Times.

Not allowing the Alto family members to vote could be a violation of their American Indian civil rights, said Jim Fletcher, superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Southern California. OP: And Pechanga tribal member who allowed the same thing to happen in his tribe!

"There were a number of them that told me that they weren't allowed to vote," Fletcher said.

However, Fletcher said he must wait until he receives official election results from the tribe and testimony from those who were banned from voting to look into the matter. Fletcher has said that the federal government considers the family to be official members of the tribe until the bureau makes a final decision on the enrollment question.

OP: THEN STAND UP JOAQUIN, for the San Pascual people, even though you didn't for your OWN.
Read the rest of the article HERE


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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the email. I just wanted to posit a question. In order for the disenrolled tribal members to pursue a lawsuit under ICRA, it's my understanding that they should have been detained by the tribal police, making way for a violation of habeaus corpus. Am I correct? Sure, I understand the misapplication of Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, and the claim that tribes have the right to determine their membership. Thanks for your time.

Anonymous said...

Yes, its terrible to see a third world dictatorship here, but this is not the only tribe taking these actions. Its happening all across Indian country, but for fronted by California Gaming tribes.

Anonymous said...

Pathetic how the sheriffs will stand with a man who isn't even of San Pascual blood.

If San Pascual is this dirty, how can we be sure the gaming is on the up and up?

Anonymous said...

BIA FLETCHER,

Time to stand up for ALL those who face or faced this situation by their California Tribe.

YOU need to be part of the solution, instead of being part of the PROBLEM, like you were at Pechanga.

Anonymous said...

How active have the San Pascual disenrolled been with the courts and the congress?

This youtube video is TERRIFIC!

Way to stand up for what is your birthright

Anonymous said...

Mr. Fletcher,

It's good of you to stand up for the San Pascual people. Sadly, you didn't do this for your own tribe, but keep working on SP, make a difference sir.

Regain some of your lost honor.

damnkids420 said...

"Its not he who votes that counts its he who counts the votes" -Stalin

All Tribal Governments will be siezed in the coming Martial Law state. www.prisonplanet.com

Sadly, last night 4 res dogs from San Pasqual attacked our mini-horse. Residents of San Pasqual neglect and abuse their animals. BOYCOTT VALLEY VIEW CASINO if you are against animal cruelty