Eva Rehner, 95; Tribal Elder Who Appeared Before Supreme Court
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Eva Linton Rehner, 95, an elder of the Pala Band of Mission Indians who lost a legal case before the U.S. Supreme Court, died of natural causes March 16 in an Escondido nursing home.
In 1983, the high court ruled that state governments have the power to license and regulate the sale of liquor on Indian reservations.
Rehner, who had a federal license to operate a general store on the Pala Reservation, north of Escondido, argued in lower courts that she should not be required to also obtain a license to sell liquor from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control department. The cost of a license at the time was $6,000.
Lawyers for Rehner and various Indian groups contended that state licensing requirements interfere with the tribes’ sovereignty.
They were supported in their argument by the Reagan administration.
Rehner was born Jan. 24, 1911, on the Santa Ysabel Reservation and at age 12 was sent to the Sherman Indian School in Riverside.
She opened her store on the Pala Reservation with her husband, Robert, in 1959. She closed the store shortly after his death in 1988.
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