September 14th, 2018
Mobile home park Safari Park Inc., located in Palm Springs, California, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against numerous high-end property owners, alleging that they regularly trespass onto land allotted to a member of the Agua Client Band of Cahuilla Indians and subleased by Safari Park.
Early Sullivan represents the property owners and has filed a Motion to Dismiss Safari Park’s action, arguing that the Plaintiff relies on federal laws which do not confer jurisdiction of the action to the Central District. The Firm argues that the law cited by Safari Park that authorizes the allotment of reservation land to individual tribal members, and the related law that allows this property to be leased, do not apply to disputes between non-Indian lessees like Safari Park and third parties like the homeowners — rather, the laws can only be applied to relationships between lessees and Indian landowners.
The full article in the Desert Sun can be read here.