Pala tribe voluntarily meets coronavirus control standards

Because the health orders issued due to the coronavirus epidemic are not part of the California Penal Code, they are civil regulatory rather than criminal prohibitory and the edicts are not binding upon sovereign Indian reservations.

Although the reservations are not required to comply, they may voluntarily take such control measures, and the Pala tribe has matched the regulated part of San Diego County in the tribe’s effort to contain the disease.

“Tribal members are like everybody else,” Doug Elmets, a representative of Pala, said. “The tribal members are doing the best they can to stay insi...