Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Judge Curiel gets another tough one

Landlords want ouster of Indian group specializing in peyote, marijuana

On Friday, June 9, another possibly controversial lawsuit landed in the lap of federal Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, who made headlines for his handling of the Trump University case, which ended with President Trump agreeing to pay the plaintiffs $25 million.

Judge Gonzalo Curiel

This case, the Razooky Family Trust vs. Oklevueha Native Indian Church of Sacramental Healing, Inc., was moved Friday from superior court to Curiel's chambers. Samir and Raidh Razooky, who run a Lakeside grocery store, among other things, charge that the Sacramental Healing group rented space at 13313 Highway 8 business route in El Cajon, and said they would not sell peyote or marijuana, their specialty. The suit charges that the defendants immediately began selling marijuana. So, the plaintiffs filed an unlawful detainer action in superior court in April.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The Oklevueha website explains the base of the group's religion: "Attending earth based indigenous American native spiritually empowering and healing ceremonies — especially Native American Church indigenous ceremonies that involve sacraments (peyote, cannabis, ayahuasca, etc.) that are otherwise illegal for non-members to partake and or be in possession of."

The Orange County Register reported last year that the group was preparing to run three pot shops where they intended to use and dispense marijuana and other then-illegal drugs. "Church members say almost anyone can join the religion and partake in its hallucinogenic sacraments, regardless of whether they have Native American heritage," wrote the Register.

The lawsuit says that in the rental agreement, there are words specifying that "the premises would not be used for the sale of controlled substances, including marijuana." But the defendants immediately began selling marijuana, were told to stop, and didn't, say the Razooky brothers.

In the notice of the removal of the suit to federal court, the church says that "as a Native Indian Church of Sacramental Healing, [the church] is a sovereign nation and the litigation violates its civil rights. The plaintiffs' unlawful detainer suit in state court would prevent the group from practicing its rituals, says the church, citing other legal reasons the suit must go to federal court.

One question Curiel may have to wrestle with: If this church allows almost anyone to join, can it call itself a sovereign nation?

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps

On Friday, June 9, another possibly controversial lawsuit landed in the lap of federal Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, who made headlines for his handling of the Trump University case, which ended with President Trump agreeing to pay the plaintiffs $25 million.

Judge Gonzalo Curiel

This case, the Razooky Family Trust vs. Oklevueha Native Indian Church of Sacramental Healing, Inc., was moved Friday from superior court to Curiel's chambers. Samir and Raidh Razooky, who run a Lakeside grocery store, among other things, charge that the Sacramental Healing group rented space at 13313 Highway 8 business route in El Cajon, and said they would not sell peyote or marijuana, their specialty. The suit charges that the defendants immediately began selling marijuana. So, the plaintiffs filed an unlawful detainer action in superior court in April.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The Oklevueha website explains the base of the group's religion: "Attending earth based indigenous American native spiritually empowering and healing ceremonies — especially Native American Church indigenous ceremonies that involve sacraments (peyote, cannabis, ayahuasca, etc.) that are otherwise illegal for non-members to partake and or be in possession of."

The Orange County Register reported last year that the group was preparing to run three pot shops where they intended to use and dispense marijuana and other then-illegal drugs. "Church members say almost anyone can join the religion and partake in its hallucinogenic sacraments, regardless of whether they have Native American heritage," wrote the Register.

The lawsuit says that in the rental agreement, there are words specifying that "the premises would not be used for the sale of controlled substances, including marijuana." But the defendants immediately began selling marijuana, were told to stop, and didn't, say the Razooky brothers.

In the notice of the removal of the suit to federal court, the church says that "as a Native Indian Church of Sacramental Healing, [the church] is a sovereign nation and the litigation violates its civil rights. The plaintiffs' unlawful detainer suit in state court would prevent the group from practicing its rituals, says the church, citing other legal reasons the suit must go to federal court.

One question Curiel may have to wrestle with: If this church allows almost anyone to join, can it call itself a sovereign nation?

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.