v.
Ardith HUBER, and
I. INTRODUCTION
This appeal is from a summary adjudication order and permanent injunction entered in an enforcement action by the Attorney General on behalf of the People of the State of California against Ardith Huber, a member of the Wiyot Band of Indians. Huber owns and operates a tobacco smokeshop on the Table Bluff Rancheria, an area where the Wiyots live just outside of Crescent City, in Humboldt County.
The Attorney General's complaint alleges a claim for violation of the Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq uitur (the UCL) and cites as predicate "unlawful acts" violations of three statutes applicable to cigarette sales and marketing, the Tax Stamp Act ( Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30161 ), the Directory Act ( Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30165.1, subd. (e)(2) ), and the Fire Safety Act ( Health & Saf. Code, § 14951, subd. (a) ). He also pleads, as separate claims, violations of the Directory Act and the Fire Safety Act. The trial court granted summary adjudication to the to the People, denied it to Huber, and entered a permanent injunction on all three claims.
Huber's primary argument on appeal is an attack on subject matter jurisdiction. She contends that, under a federal statute granting California courts plenary criminal jurisdiction but limited civil jurisdiction over cases arising on Indian reservations, the trial court lacked power to proceed on any of the three claims in this case. She also argues that, under the doctrine of Indian preemption, which limits the reach of state law to conduct by Indians on Indian reservations, all the statutes the Attorney General seeks to enforce here are preempted by paramount federal authority.
We reverse in part, agreeing the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to proceed on the UCL claim, but in all other respects affirm.
II. BACKGROUND
A. Huber Enterprises and the Table Bluff Rancheria
Huber runs a sole proprietorship out of her home called Huber Enterprises, selling cigarettes at retail and wholesale. Although Huber once sold other brands of cigarettes, after 2007 she has sold exclusively [*378] Native American brands, which she describes as "cigarettes manufactured by Indians on Indian lands, ... shipped and sold through Indian and tribally-owned distributors to Indian and tribally-owned retail smokeshops located on Indian lands."
The retail component of Huber's enterprise is onsite business. Customers include tribe members and nonmembers who come to the Table Bluff Rancheria to make purchases there. The wholesale component of the enterprise is with "over two dozen Indian smokeshops owned either by Indian tribes or [i]ndividual tribal members and operated within [other] ... recognized Indian reservation[s]." Deliveries are made to these "inter-tribal" customers by truck, using California highways.
Huber Enterprises is licensed to do business pursuant to the Wiyot Tribal Business Code and the Wiyot Tribal Tobacco Licensing Ordinance (Ordinance No. 01-10). Ordinance No. 01-10 was promulgated June 14, 2010, for purposes of, inter alia, "promot[ing] tribal economic development," "regulat[ing] and licens[ing] the manufacture, distribution, wholesaling, and retailing of tobacco products," "complement[ing] and enforc[ing] federal standards relating to or prohibiting the sale, distribution, possession, exposure to, access to, advertising and promotion of, and use of tobacco products," and "encourag[ing] and foster[ing] traditions and culture of the Tribe."
Ordinance No. 01-10 requires licensees to pay-and Huber Enterprises does pay-a quarterly excise tax administered through a tribal tax stamp system. Taxes collected in this manner are deposited into a dedicated Tribal Tobacco Fund, earmarked solely for the expenses of "[t]obacco-related school and community health education programs," "[s]moking and tobacco-use prevention measures," and "[a]ssistance to tribal and community members for cessation of smoking and tobacco use."
There is no dispute in this case that today the Wiyot Band of Indians is a federally recognized tribe and that the Table Bluff Rancheria falls within the broad definition of "Indian country" under federal law, as do individual allotments of land to enrolled tribe members such as Huber. (
[*379] B. The Directory Act, the Fire Safety Act, and the Tax Stamp Act
At the center of the appeal are three sets of statutes governing different aspects of the sale and distribution of cigarettes in California. In order to provide some general legal context and set the stage for the specific issues framed by the appeal, we begin by summarizing these statutes.
First, California, along with many other states, has enacted legislation designed to implement the provisions of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (the MSA).[2] Under the pertinent California statutes, cigarettes sold in this state must be produced by manufacturers who either (a) have signed the MSA and agreed to pay substantial sums to the state to cover, among other things, health care costs generated by tobacco use among Californians, or (b) in lieu of signing the MSA, have agreed to pay sufficient funds into a reserve fund in escrow to guarantee a source of compensation should liability arise. ( Health & Saf. Code, §§ 104555 - 104557.) Under the Directory Act, the Attorney General maintains a published list of all cigarette manufacturers who have annually certified their compliance with the requirements of the MSA or the alternative escrow funding requirements. ( Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30165.1, subds. (c) & (d).) It is categorically illegal for any "person" to "sell, offer, or possess for sale in this state, ship or otherwise distribute into or within this state" cigarettes that are not in compliance with the Directory Act. (
Second, under the Fire Safety Act, any manufacturer of cigarettes sold in California must meet specified testing, performance, and packaging standards established for the purpose of minimizing the fire hazards caused by cigarettes. ( Health & Saf. Code, §§ 14951, subd. (a)(1)-(3), 14952 - 14954.) This statute provides that all cigarettes sold in this state must, among other things, be packaged in a specified manner and certified with the State Fire Marshal as compliant with these safety standards. (
Third, to reduce smoking and fund healthcare research related to diseases caused by smoking (Rev. & Tax. Code, §§ 30131 & 30121 et seq.), California imposes excise taxes that "shall be paid by the user or consumer" (id., § 30107) but that must be collected by distributors at the time of sale and remitted by them to the state (id., § 30108). Compliance with this remittance obligation is administered under the Tax Stamp Act, which requires all cigarette packages sold in California to have tax stamps affixed to them. (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30161.) Subject to exceptions, it is illegal for any "person" to "knowingly possess[ ], or keep[ ], store[ ], or retain[ ] for the purpose of sale, or sell[ ] or offer[ ] to sell, any package of cigarettes to which [*380] there is not affixed" a tax stamp required by the Tax Stamp Act. (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30474, subd. (a).)
C. Procedural History
After sending two cease-and-desist letters charging Huber with violating various provisions of state law governing distribution and sales of cigarettes, the Attorney General filed this action in Humboldt County in March 2011. The complaint pleaded three causes of action. The first alleged violation of the Directory Act. The second alleged violation of the Fire Safety Act. And the third alleged violation of the UCL, specifying violations of the Tax Stamp Act, the Directory Act, and the Fire Safety Act as predicate "unlawful acts" warranting entry of a permanent injunction and an award of civil penalties.
Specifically, it was alleged that Huber Enterprises sold cigarettes in packages without an affixed tax stamp and failed to collect and remit excise taxes, all in violation of the Tax Stamp Act ( Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30161 ); sold cigarettes purchased from manufacturers not listed by the Attorney General on the statewide tobacco directory, in violation of the Directory Act (id , § 30165.1, subd. (e)(2) ); and sold cigarettes in packaging that does not meet required safety standards, in violation of the Fire Safety Act ( Health & Saf. Code, § 14951, subd. (a) ).[3]
On cross motions for summary adjudication, the trial court denied Huber's motion; granted the Attorney General's motion in part, leaving open triable issues concerning civil penalties; and entered a permanent injunction. By its terms, the injunction applies only to sales to nonmembers of the Wiyot Tribe and permits Huber to continue operating so long as she complies with the Directory Act, the Fire Safety Act, and the Tax Stamp Act. This appeal followed.
III. DISCUSSION
Only the grant of the permanent injunction is on appeal. " 'A permanent injunction is a determination on the merits that a plaintiff has prevailed on a cause of action ... against a defendant and that equitable relief is appropriate. A permanent injunction ... is a final judgment on the merits.' " ( Dawson v. East Side Union High School Dist. (1994)
Because the order granting summary adjudication in favor of the Attorney General and denying it to Huber supplies the basis for the permanent injunction, we must in turn review whether summary adjudication was correctly granted as to each of the three causes of action. We review de novo an order granting summary judgment or summary adjudication. ( Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001)
A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
The United States Supreme Court "first addressed the sovereign status of [Indian] tribes in three opinions known today as the Marshall Trilogy after their author, Chief Justice John Marshall. (See Worcester v. The State of Georgia (1832) 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515,
Huber's main contention here is that California courts have no subject matter jurisdiction over this case because it involves her on-reservation activities as a member of the Wiyot Tribe. Central to her argument is a federal statute known as Public Law 280 (Pub.L. No. 83-280 (Aug. 15, 1953)
[*382] "Although the federal government has plenary power over tribal affairs" under the doctrine of Indian sovereignty, "it began to delegate some of this authority to the states in the early 1950's during an assimilationist period." ( Middletown Rancheria, supra , 60 Cal.App.4th at p. 1348,
At the time Congress passed Public Law 280 in 1953, the policy of the federal government tended to favor assimilation of Indian tribes into the surrounding citizenry of their respective states. (See Cohen, supra, §§ 1.06-1.07, pp. 89-99.)[5] Although there is nothing definitive in the legislative history to shed light on Congressional intent, "[w]hat is known is that Public Law number 280 passed despite considerable opposition from Indian organizations, which feared 'state jurisdiction would in practice operate to the disadvantage of the Indians. The Indians in many instances preferred federal to state jurisdiction because the [Bureau of Indian Affairs], for all its faults, at least perceived the Indians as its special responsibility and concern.' (Goldberg, supra, 22 U.C.L.A. L.Rev. at p. 545.) Perhaps because of this opposition, Public Law number 280, in its final form, represented 'an attempt at compromise between wholly abandoning the Indians to the states and maintaining them as federally protected wards, subject only to federal [*383] or tribal jurisdiction.' (Id . at p. 537.)" ( Boisclair , supra , 51 Cal.3d at p. 1150,
In line with this view of Public Law 280 as a compromise measure, Huber stakes her position on the premise that the United States Supreme Court has read the extension of civil jurisdiction under Public Law 280 narrowly, confining it to "private civil litigation involving reservation Indians in state court" ( Bryan v. Itasca County (1976)
B. Public Law 280: Civil Jurisdiction
1. Public Law 280, Section 4, as Construed in Bryan
Because Bryan is pivotal to our analysis of subject matter jurisdiction, we begin with a close look at that case. Bryan , decided three years after McClanahan v. State Tax Commission of Arizona (1973)
[*384] At issue in Bryan was a $147.95 personal property tax imposed by a Minnesota county on a mobile home owned by an enrolled member of the Chippewa tribe and located on a reservation. ( Bryan , supra , 426 U.S. at p. 375,
Invoking the interpretive canon that " 'statutes passed for the benefit of dependent Indian tribes ... are to be liberally construed, doubtful expressions being resolved in favor of the Indians' " ( Bryan , supra , 426 U.S. at p. 392,
Under the holding in Bryan , the power Congress withheld from states in the civil arena ("general state civil regulatory control") is just as important to bear in mind as the power it affirmatively granted (adjudicative authority over "private legal disputes" involving "reservation Indians"). (See Bryan , supra , 426 U.S. at pp. 383-384,
Turning to the application of Public Law 280 section 4(a) in this case, we have a lawsuit in which one party is a member of a federally recognized tribe, and each of the statutes at issue, the Directory Act, the Fire Safety Act, the Tax Stamp Act, and the UCL, is a law of "general application to private persons" in California. Accordingly, under one reading of the statutory language, the case would appear to fit easily within the statutory grant of civil jurisdiction for all three causes of action. But that is not the reading the United States Supreme Court has adopted; Bryan instructs us that what matters here is the absence of any private dispute. (See Doe v. Mann (9th Cir. 2005)
2. The Conflation of Preemption and Subject Matter Jurisdiction
The Attorney General argues that subject matter jurisdiction in this case is not, [*386] and need not be, founded upon Public Law 280. For this position, he relies heavily on a line of United States Supreme Court cases upholding state laws regulating cigarette sales by and to tribal members in the face of preemption challenges on grounds of Indian sovereignty. (See Moe v. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Flathead Reservation (1976)
Citing People ex rel. Brown v. Black Hawk Tobacco, Inc. (2011)
In her treatment of Black Hawk , Huber draws an analytical distinction that we think brings some clarity to the sometimes loose use of the term "jurisdiction" in the case law in this area. While the ultimate issue before the high court in Bryan,
The one exception in California law is the Third District's recent decision in People ex rel. Becerra v. Rose (2017)
To us, it is not clear what "the broader issue" of preemption, the effect of which is a negation of power, not a grant of it, has to do with adjudicative jurisdiction. Every California case involving Indian litigants in Indian country is "a Public Law 280 case"-in the sense that the statute must be applied, and if its terms are met (either by considering Public Law 280 alone or in the context of another statutory scheme such as ICWA, as it was in Doe , supra ,
What is problematic about the Rose court's treatment of Public Law 280, in our view-a flaw also reflected in the position taken by the Attorney General in this case-is that it conflates adjudicative jurisdiction and legislative jurisdiction. He cites to a passage in Cabazon in which the high court stated it has "not established an inflexible per se rule precluding state jurisdiction over tribes and tribal members in the absence of express congressional consent"
[*389] ( Cabazon , supra , 480 U.S. at pp. 214-215,
When pressed on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction at oral argument, the Attorney General's fallback position was that nothing in Public Law 280 withdrew any aspect of the California courts' preexisting general jurisdiction. All Public Law 280 did, he suggested, was expand the adjudicative jurisdiction over Indians in Indian country that California courts already enjoyed. We see two basic problems with this point of view. First, taking the argument on its own terms, we have difficulty seeing what there was to expand if jurisdiction was general to begin with. The default rule that the courts of this state have subject matter jurisdiction to enforce California law in any case where there is personal jurisdiction over the parties does not supply an adequate answer to the question Huber raises, for if it did, Public Law 280 was an idle act by Congress. Second, the argument runs contrary to a fundamental premise of the Bryan opinion-that, as a compromise measure, Public Law 280 granted narrow civil adjudicative jurisdiction as a way to avoid the "devastating impact on tribal governments that might result from an interpretation of § 4 as conferring upon state and local governments general civil regulatory control over reservation Indians." ( Bryan , supra , 426 U.S. at p. 388, fn. 14,
This is not a case, to be sure, in which an alternative tribal or federal forum appears to be available for a civil enforcement action by the State of California. But in our view, that is an inevitable consequence of Bryan 's conclusion that section 4(a) of Public Law 280 does not extend "general state civil regulatory control over Indian reservations." ( Bryan , supra , 426 U.S. at p. 384,
C. Public Law 280: Criminal/Prohibitory Jurisdiction
Having concluded that this case falls outside the grant of civil adjudicative jurisdiction [*390] in Public Law 280, we come to the next question posed by the holding in Bryan -whether subject matter jurisdiction exists over any of the claims alleged in this case because the statutes being asserted here may be deemed criminal/prohibitory in nature and thus within the grant of criminal jurisdiction in section 2 of Public Law 280 (codified in
Cabazon sets the frame of analysis. The Cabazon case involved two federally recognized bands of Mission Indians in Riverside County, the Morongo and the Cabazon, each of which operated bingo games on its reservation. ( Cabazon, supra, 480 U.S. at pp. 204-205,
"[I]f the intent of a state law is generally to prohibit certain conduct," the court explained, "it falls within Pub.L. 280's grant of criminal jurisdiction, but if the state law generally permits the conduct at issue, subject to regulation, it must be classified as civil/regulatory and Pub.L. 280 does not authorize its enforcement on an Indian reservation. The shorthand test is whether the conduct at issue violates the state's public policy." ( Cabazon , supra , 480 U.S. at p. 209,
Applying this test to the three causes of action pleaded in this case, we think that two of the three claims, the first, for violation of the Directory Act, and the second, for violation of the Fire Safety Act, rest on statutes that are criminal/prohibitory in nature and thus may be enforced under Public Law 280's grant of criminal jurisdiction. The Directory Act establishes a categorical ban on the sale of cigarettes purchased from manufacturers who have not certified their compliance with the MSA or made escrow payments in lieu thereof. ( Rev. & Tax. Code, § 30165.1, subd. (e)(2).) A useful analogy, in our view, is to statutory prohibitions on cigarette sales to minors or underage drinking, two examples of categorical bans which have been found to be criminal/prohibitory in nature.[12] The Fire Safety Act presents a closer question, but we think it too is criminal/prohibitory in nature. Here again we have a statute that sets up a categorical ban, in the case of this statute on all products offered for sale that do not meet certification requirements for noncombustible packaging. ( Health & Saf. Code, § 14951, subd. (a).) It is analogous, we think, to statutes prohibiting the general possession and/or sale of certain classes of fireworks subject to narrow exceptions.[13] In assessing the proper classification of these two laws, we find it significant that both meet the Cabazon shorthand test for statutes outlawing conduct in violation of public policy ( Cabazon, supra, 480 U.S. at p. 209,
Unlike the Directory Act and the Fire Safety Act, we view the third cause of action for violation of the UCL as a claim founded on a civil/regulatory law and thus outside Public Law 280's grant of criminal jurisdiction. The UCL is a trade regulation statute. California permits open business competition-indeed promotes it-and the UCL regulates competition by making illegal only a subset of business practices that are "unlawful, unfair or fraudulent," as well as advertising that is "unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading." ( Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200.) A useful analogy here is to cases involving attempted enforcement under Public Law 280 of driving infraction laws on Indian reservations; these laws apply to all driving, which is, of course, generally allowed, but they forbid only certain subsets of driving, such as driving over a certain speed limit[14] or driving without proof of insurance.[15] The Attorney General emphasizes that the "unlawful" acts alleged in the third cause of action are based derivatively on alleged violations of the Directory Act, the Fire Safety Act, and the Tax Stamp Act, and we should look to the intent of the underlying statutes to determine whether they are criminal/prohibitory. But it is the intent of the UCL
[*392] that counts. To the extent the UCL is being used here as an enforcement tool targeting unlawful acts under more specific statutes, that simply illustrates the dividing line we draw: The UCL applies to business competition generally, which is not only permitted but promoted in California, and outlaws only specific practices comprising a subset of competition.
Accordingly, we agree with Huber that the trial court lacked adjudicative jurisdiction to proceed on the third cause of action seeking to enforce the Tax Stamp Act, the Directory Act, and the Fire Safety Act derivatively through the UCL, and thus we hold that the court erred by granting summary adjudication against her and issuing an injunction on that claim.[16] But at the same time we agree with the Attorney General that the court had adjudicative jurisdiction to proceed on the first and second causes of action seeking to enforce the Directory Act and the Fire Safety Act directly, which requires that we proceed to examine whether the Directory Act and the Fire Safety Act may be applied to the conduct at issue in this case. It is to that issue we now turn.
D. Preemption
1. Applicable Principles
"The relation between the Indians and the states has by no means remained constant since the days of John Marshall." ( Village of Kake , supra , 369 U.S. at p. 71,
The high court summarized the applicable principles in White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker (1980)
[*393] They are related, however, in two important ways. The right of tribal self-government is ultimately dependent on and subject to the broad power of Congress. Even so, traditional notions of Indian self-government are so deeply engrained in our jurisprudence that they have provided an important 'backdrop,' [citation] against which vague or ambiguous federal enactments must always be measured.
"The unique historical origins of tribal sovereignty make it generally unhelpful to apply to federal enactments regulating Indian tribes those standards of pre-emption that have emerged in other areas of the law. Tribal reservations are not States, and the differences in the form and nature of their sovereignty make it treacherous to import to one notions of pre-emption that are properly applied to the other. The tradition of Indian sovereignty over the reservation and tribal members must inform the determination whether the exercise of state authority has been pre-empted by operation of federal law. [Citation.] ... [T]his tradition is reflected and encouraged in a number of congressional enactments demonstrating a firm federal policy of promoting tribal self-sufficiency and economic development. Ambiguities in federal law have been construed generously in order to comport with these traditional notions of sovereignty and with the federal policy of encouraging tribal independence. [Citation.] We have thus rejected the proposition that in order to find a particular state law to have been pre-empted by operation of federal law, an express congressional statement to that effect is required. [Citation.] At the same time any applicable regulatory interest of the State must be given weight [citation], and 'automatic exemptions "as a matter of constitutional law" ' are unusual. [Citation.]
"When on-reservation conduct involving only Indians is at issue, state law is generally inapplicable, for the State's regulatory interest is likely to be minimal and the federal interest in encouraging tribal self-government is at its strongest.[[17] ]... More difficult questions arise where ... a State asserts authority over the conduct of non-Indians engaging in activity on the reservation. In such cases we have examined the language of the relevant federal treaties and statutes in terms of both the broad policies that underlie them and the notions of sovereignty that have developed from historical traditions of tribal independence. This inquiry is not dependent on mechanical or absolute conceptions of state or tribal sovereignty but has called for a particularized inquiry into the nature of the state, federal, and tribal interests at stake, an inquiry designed to determine whether, in the specific context, the exercise of state authority would violate federal law. [Citations.]" ( Bracker , supra , 448 U.S. at pp. 142-145,
2. Moe , Colville , and Milhelm
Bracker,
Moe,
Citing cases barring states from directly taxing Indian-owned property or income earned by Indians on a reservation, the district court held Montana could not apply its tax on vehicles, its vendor licensing scheme, or its cigarette taxing scheme, with one significant exception: Montana "may require a pre-collection of the tax imposed by law upon the non-Indian purchaser of the cigarettes." ( Moe , supra , 425 U.S. at pp. 468-469,
Essentially, what the court held is that, to prevent tax evasion by non-Indians who purchase cigarettes, Montana may enlist tribal sellers in an effort to collect tax owed by these shoppers. ( Moe , supra , 425 U.S. at pp. 481-483,
Colville expands the core holding in Moe in a number of ways. The appeal there was from a district court judgment in consolidated cases, both involving cigarette sales by Indian smokeshops on reservation land in the State of Washington. (Colville,
The holdings in Colville on this complex array of issues are noteworthy in three respects. First, Washington's scheme of taxing nonmembers who make on-reservation purchases was found to be valid and not preempted. ( Colville,
The tribes' reliance on their own local schemes of taxing and regulating cigarette sales failed. ( Colville,
Second, the court found that Washington was empowered "to apply its sales and cigarette taxes to Indians resident on the reservation but not enrolled in the governing Tribe." ( Colville,
Milhelm picked up where Moe and Colville left off, but specifically addressed the wholesale level of distribution. Historically, under federal legislation known as the Indian Trader Statutes, enacted pursuant to the Indian Commerce Clause and designed to protect against exploitation of tribes by Indian traders, and under prior Supreme Court case law, federally licensed trading agents have been exempt from state taxation, just as tribe members are exempt from state taxation. ( Milhelm, supra, 512 U.S. at pp. 68, 70,
Reviewing a decision of the New York Court of Appeals that held New York's regulations preempted by the Indian Trader Statutes, the high court framed the issue as follows. "Because New York lacks authority to tax cigarettes sold to tribal members for their own consumption, see Moe [, supra ,]
The court reversed, extending Moe and Colville with the following explanation: "The specific kind of state tax obligation that New York's regulations are designed to enforce-which falls on non-Indian purchasers of goods that are merely retailed on a reservation-stands on a markedly different footing from a tax imposed directly on Indian traders, on enrolled tribal members or tribal organizations, or on 'value generated on the reservation by activities involving the Tribes,' Colville,
"Although Moe and Colville dealt most directly with claims of interference with tribal sovereignty, the reasoning of those decisions requires rejection of the submission that [a provision of the Indian Trader Statutes] bars any and all state-imposed burdens on Indian traders. ... [¶] ... [¶]
[*397] ... We are persuaded ... that New York's decision to stanch the illicit flow of tax-free cigarettes early in the distribution stream is a 'reasonably necessary' method of 'preventing fraudulent transactions,' one that 'polices against wholesale evasion of [New York's] own valid taxes without unnecessarily intruding on core tribal interests.' Colville,
3. Preemption Analysis
Arguing for preemption, Huber emphasizes that this case involves solely on-reservation conduct among Indians, and, to the extent her operations extended beyond the border of the Table Bluff Rancheria, her business was with other tribes on other reservations. In her account of the facts, all she did was make wholesale deliveries to other tribes on their reservations "as a courtesy," while contractually taking and accepting every order at the only store location she had, in her house on the Table Bluff Rancheria. She insists the trial court made no finding that she conducted business off-reservation. What the trial court actually found, she says, is that her business involved extensive "off-reservation contacts," a concept she contends might be relevant to an issue of personal jurisdiction, but that has no legal significance here.
Huber relies heavily on our Supreme Court's decision in Naegele , supra ,
The Attorney General bases his argument against preemption on the general idea that Indian reservations are not legal islands unto themselves and that whatever vestiges of sovereignty they still enjoy [*398] must give way in matters of commerce affecting the welfare of state citizens outside their borders. "Absent express federal law to the contrary," he points out, "Indians going beyond reservation boundaries have generally been held subject to nondiscriminatory state law otherwise applicable to all citizens of the State." ( Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones (1973)
The Attorney General also draws our attention to the scale of Huber's enterprise. What she portrays as a "small storefront" operation run out of her house is not, in fact, some tiny, exclusively on-reservation business, he points out. Huber "sold huge quantities of noncompliant cigarettes. Between November 23, 2009 and October 1, 2013, she sold, distributed, and transported at least 14,727,290 packs of Seneca, Opal, King Mountain, Couture, and Sands brand cigarettes to other stores within the state but beyond her reservation. [She] invoiced over $30 million for these sales. Several days a week her employees delivered these cigarettes using her own vehicles on state roads and highways. Between March 8, 2007 and October 1, 2013, [Huber] also sold at least 1,969,279 packs of Seneca, Opal, King Mountain, Couture, and Sands brand cigarettes at her retail store. [Huber's] tribe has about 600 members of all ages." (Fns. omitted.)
All in all, we conclude that the Attorney General has the better of the argument on the issue of preemption. In circumstances involving conduct that is partially on-reservation and partially off-reservation, "a State may validly assert authority over the activities of nonmembers on a reservation" if a balancing of interests under Bracker , supra,
A key teaching of Moe , Colville, and Milhelm is that the high court views the issue of state regulation of cigarette sales on Indian reservations through an economic lens, looking not only at the cost advantages of selling noncomplying cigarettes, but to the incentives to lawbreaking that such sales create and the impact of upstream purchasing in the wholesale market [*399] for illicit cigarettes. ( Moe , supra , 425 U.S. at pp. 481-483,
Huber argues that Moe , Colville, and Milhelm are merely "tax" cases that have no application outside the "special area of State taxation." (See Cabazon , supra , 480 U.S. at p. 215, fn. 17,
The trial court correctly concluded that the balance of federal, tribal, and state interests weighs in favor of California. Huber points to no federal interest, expressed by statute or regulation, in promoting reservation sales of cigarettes, and makes no claim that Congress, by statute or regulation, delegated to the Wiyots some form of authority that might oust the authority of the state in this area. To the extent the Wiyot Tribe, independently, has an interest in carving out a domain for its members in the cigarette sales business-Ordinance No. 01-10 appears to evidence just such an interest-the holding in Colville tells us that does not matter, absent a direct conflict. The court there rejected an invitation to use tribal cigarette tax and marketing regulations as a consideration weighing in favor of preemption. ( Colville, supra, 447 U.S. at pp. 158-159,
Huber argues that, by obtaining an injunction, which carries with it the threat of contempt, the enforcement steps the Attorney General has taken here-causing the shutdown of her business-go far beyond the "minimal" burdens the Moe , Colville, and Milhelm courts approved. We cannot agree. The burden of complying with the Directory Act and the Fire Safety Act, as the Attorney General points out, falls on manufacturers. Huber's only "burden," if it can even be called that, is to choose product sourcing from manufacturers who comply with those statutes. Huber points out that the court's injunction left her no choice but to shutter her business, but if that is the case the decision to close her business rather than offer cigarettes that comply with California law was her election, apparently looking at the economics of continued operation in compliance with state law. Colville is quite clear that the burden was on her to show that the Directory Act and the Fire Safety Act as enforced against her in the first and second causes of action are "not reasonably necessary as a means of preventing fraudulent transactions." ( Colville, supra, 447 U.S. at p. 160,
Huber's complaint about the weight of the injunction does raise a further question under the ultimate test for Indian preemption-whether enjoining on-reservation conduct by an enrolled tribe member infringes on "the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them." ( Williams , supra , 358 U.S. at p. 220,
We are not persuaded this makes a difference, however. In Colville , the high court upheld the State of Washington's power to seize illegal cigarettes by off-reservation interdiction but saw no need to address whether the state had power to "enter onto the reservations, seize stocks of cigarettes which are intended for sale to nonmembers, and sell those stocks in order to obtain payment of the taxes due." ( Colville , supra , 447 U.S. at p. 162,
IV. CONCLUSION
We reverse the order granting summary adjudication to the People on the third cause of action for violation of the UCL. We also reverse the order denying summary adjudication to Huber on the third cause of action for violation of the UCL. We thus vacate the permanent injunction in part, to the extent it relies on and is designed to enjoin violation of the UCL. In all other respects we affirm, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
We concur:
Reardon, J.
Smith, J.
Federally protected territory in California falling within the federal definition of "Indian country" has a unique history that differs in some respects from the history of federally protected Indian lands in other states, where in many cases treaties with tribes determined the boundaries of tribal territory. (See Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law (2012 ed.) § 3.04[2][a], p. 185 (Cohen).) Early in the 20th century, the United States sought to improve "the landless, homeless or penurious state of many California Indians" by purchasing numerous small tracts of land known as " '[r]ancherias.' " (Williams v. Gover (9th Cir. 2007)
See Annotation, Validity, Construction, Application, and Effect of Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) Between Tobacco Companies and Various States, and State Statutes Implementing Agreement; Use and Distribution of MSA Proceeds (2007)
There is no standalone cause of action for violation of the Tax Stamp Act.
Section 4 of Public Law 280,
"(a) Each of the States listed in the following table shall have jurisdiction over civil causes of action between Indians or to which Indians are parties which arise in the areas of Indian country listed opposite the name of the State to the same extent that such State has jurisdiction over other civil causes of action, and those civil laws of such State that are of general application to private persons or private property shall have the same force and effect within such Indian country as they have elsewhere within the State:
"State of Indian country affected
[¶ ... ¶]
California .............................. All Indian country within the State.
[¶ ... ¶]
"(b) Nothing in this section shall authorize the alienation, encumbrance, or taxation of any real or personal property, including water rights, belonging to any Indian or any Indian tribe, band, or community that is held in trust by the United States or is subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by the United States; or shall authorize regulation of the use of such property in a manner inconsistent with any Federal treaty, agreement, or statute or with any regulation made pursuant thereto; or shall confer jurisdiction upon the state to adjudicate, in probate proceedings or otherwise, the ownership or right to possession of such property or any interest therein.
"(c) Any tribal ordinance or custom heretofore or hereafter adopted by an Indian tribe, band, or community in the exercise of any authority which it may possess shall, if not inconsistent with any applicable civil law of the State, be given full force and effect in the determination of civil causes of action pursuant to this section."
Besides California, the other listed Public Law 280 states, as the statute was originally enacted in 1953, were Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Alaska was added by Act of August 8, 1958, Public Law No. 85-615, section 1, 72 Statutes 545 (codified at18 U.S.C. § 1162 (a),28 U.S.C. § 1360 (a) ). These six states are sometimes known as "mandatory" Public Law 280 states. (See Cohen, supra, § 6.04[3][a], p. 538, fn. 50.) Public Law 280 offered the option to other states to accept the same jurisdiction, and eventually 10 additional states, sometimes known as "optional" Public Law 280 states (Arizona, Idaho, Florida, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington), accepted jurisdiction under its terms, in whole or in part. (See Cohen, supra , § 6.04[3][a], pp. 537-538 & fn. 47.)
Up to that point in time, federal policy had oscillated between periods of promotion of tribal assimilation and promotion of tribal self-determination. (See Organized Village of Kake v. Egan (1962)
"The McClanahan principle derives from a general preemption analysis [citation] that gives effect to the plenary and exclusive power of the Federal Government to deal with Indian tribes [citations] and 'to regulate and protect the Indians and the property against interference even by a state,' [citation]. This pre-emption analysis draws support from 'the "backdrop" of the Indian sovereignty doctrine,' [citation] ' "[t]he policy of leaving Indians free from state jurisdiction and control [which] is deeply rooted in the Nation's history," ' [citation] and the extensive federal legislative and administrative regulation of Indian tribes and reservations, [citation]. 'Congress has ... acted consistently upon the assumption that the States have no power to regulate the affairs of Indians on a reservation,' [citation], and therefore ' "State laws generally are not applicable to tribal Indians on an Indian reservation except where Congress has expressly provided that State laws shall apply." ' [Citation.] [¶] [T]his pre-emption model usually yields different conclusions as to the application of state laws to tribal Indians who have left or never inhabited federally established reservations, or Indians 'who do not possess the usual accoutrements of tribal self-government.' [Citations.]" (Bryan , supra, 426 U.S. at p. 376, fn. 2,
The question of Public Law 280 jurisdiction arose in Doe , supra ,
The Ninth Circuit panel opined that, even though the state is a party to dependency proceedings, those proceedings concern the "status" of "a private individual," and thus are "more analogous" to the private legal disputes falling within Public Law 280's civil jurisdiction than to the taxation and gambling statutes at issue in Bryan and Cabazon , which "regulate the conduct of the public at large." (Doe , 415 F.3d at p. 1059.) The panel in Doe , however, did not rest its conclusion as to the applicability of Public Law 280 solely on the purported distinction between proceedings relating to status and broader regulatory regimes. (Doe , at p. 1061.) Instead, the court went on to conclude ICWA contemplates that, unless a tribe follows specified procedures to "reassume" jurisdiction, Public Law 280 states retain Public Law 280 jurisdiction (
The difference between jurisdiction to adjudicate, on the one hand, and jurisdiction to legislate, on the other, is well recognized in California law (2 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (5th ed. 2008) Jurisdiction, § 5, pp. 578-579 (Witkin) ) as it is in state and federal law generally (see generally Willis L.M. Reese, Legislative Jurisdiction,
Prior to Bryan , the few reported California decisions addressing Public Law 280 read it as a grant of legislative jurisdiction (e.g., Acosta v. San Diego County (1954)
In addition to Black Hawk , supra ,
E.g., Boisclair , supra , 51 Cal.3d at pp. 1153, 1156, 1158-1159,
Section 2 of Public Law 280,
"(a) Each of the States ... listed in the following table shall have jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Indians in the areas of Indian country listed ... to the same extent that such State ... has jurisdiction over offenses committed elsewhere within the State ... and the criminal laws of such State ... shall have the same force and effect within such Indian country as they have elsewhere within the State ... :
"State or Territory of Indian country affected
[¶ ... ¶]
California .............................. All Indian country within the State."
[¶ ... ¶]
Structurally, section 2 is laid out similarly to section 4, with a series of proviso clauses (none of which is relevant here) following section 2. The same states are listed for both section 2 and section 4.
State v. Lasley (Iowa 2005)
Quechan Indian Tribe v. McMullen (9th Cir.1993)
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation v. Washington (9th Cir.1991)
State v. Johnson (Minn. 1999)
In addition to her attack on subject matter jurisdiction, Huber makes a series of other statutory interpretation arguments directed at the UCL claim, all of which rest on the contention that the claimed violations of the Directory Act, the Fire Safety Act, and the Tax Stamp Act cannot be used as predicate unlawful acts to support the UCL claim. We need not address these contentions in light of the disposition we reach with respect to the third cause of action.
New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe (1983)
See Cohen, supra, § 6.02[1], p. 504 ("Where activities occur partially within and partially outside Indian country, and a substantial part of the activity takes place outside, courts have generally upheld nondiscriminatory applications of state jurisdiction").
Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.