Rincon Band of Mission Indians v. Harris

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge:

This case presents the question of whether the distribution of federal funds by the Indian Health Service (“IHS”) to California Indians violates the IHS’s statutory, trust or constitutional duties. The district court granted the plaintiff-Indians’ motion for summary judgment, declaring that the IHS’s system for the allocation of its funds violated the California Indians’ constitutional right to equal protection. Rincon Band of Mission Indians v. Califano, 464 F.Supp. 934 (N.D.Cal.1979). In a subsequent clarification of that judgment, the district court declared that,…