Update: Court rules for RI in Narragansett tribal case
2:40 PM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink
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Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
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Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts By Katie Mulvaney The U.S. Supreme Court today ended the Narragansett Indian Tribe's decade-long fight for control over 31 acres in Charlestown, signaling a major victory for the state. The high court found that the U.S. Department of Interior cannot place the land in trust for the tribe because the Narragansetts were not federally recognized when Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Narragansetts became a federally recognized in 1983. Trust status would free the land from most state and local laws, and some feared it would have cleared the way for the Narragansetts to build a casino or other venture outside of state oversight. The Narragansett tribe bought the property, just north of Route 1 and across the street from its other 1,800 acres, in 1991 as a housing site for its poor elderly members. The state filed suit after the Interior Department agreed to take the 31 acres into trust on behalf of the tribe in 1998. The tribe had won the case in U.S. District and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Charlestown's solicitor on Indian affairs, Joseph S. Larisa, who has been involved in the case since it began, relished the decision. "The high court agreed with the consistent legal position of the Town and State that the Narragansett Indian Tribe is not entitled to special treatment on land that it owns," Larisa said in a statement. "By preventing the Narragansetts from placing land into federal trust, citizens are assured that no land can be stripped from state or town jurisdiction. This means there can be no tax-free smokeshop or other activity that is inconsistent with state law or town ordinance -- and no Indian casino until and unless the people vote to have one. In sum -- absent a new act of Congress -- the Narragansetts will continue to have the same rights and obligations as all other Rhode Islanders on all land that they own." John F. Killoy, the tribe's lawyer, said the court had effectively reversed 75 years of federal Indian policy. "The court has narrowly construed a statute intended to benefit all Indians." The court's ruling Tuesday applies to tribes recognized by the federal government after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. The U.S. government argued that the law allows it to take land into trust for tribes regardless of when they were recognized, but Justice Clarence Thomas said in his majority opinion that the law "unambiguously refers to those tribes that were under the federal jurisdiction" when it was enacted. Jackson T. King, general counsel for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, which runs the Foxwoods casino in neighboring Connecticut, decried the ruling. "This is a very poor decision reversing more than 50 years of practice by the Bureau of Indian Affairs," he said in a news release. "The decision will not affect many tribes that were under federal jurisdiction in 1934, nor does it apply to tribes like Mashantucket, where the Congressional Settlement Act specifically provides that laws such as the one in question are applicable. "There is nothing in the decision which suggests that it would apply to properties already in Trust." Related links: Extra: Read an earlier story on the dispute.
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Sounds like Carcieri's choice of a lawyer worked out after all. I'm sure ProJo will be heaping praise on the governor for his decision.
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To bad. The narragansetts now have gotton royally screwed again now by the supreme court.
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Poor Narragansetts, screwed by the White Man again. Good luck to you...
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I paid the Narragansetts for the land under British Law. You paid them again with U.S. funds and recognition. You paid them a generation ago with state land and funds. They have been paid three times. They should move on. You should stop paying.
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No on tobacco and gambling! Looks like the only viable businesses left for this highly motivated, educated group are drugs and prostitutes.
But what does Thomas do with all the money he gets from the Government? Fund the infrastructure associated with 1800 acres of raw land!!!
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Right on Roger Williams!
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This Indian thing is stupid... That was then this is now..... Im part Indian and I dont care live by the same rules as everyone. Enough with this oh, it was our land bs.... If all the countries had to turn over the land that they won in war then none of the Countries would be the Countries they are today. Stop the whining and the BS and move on....
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The Native people do not need what you think you possess. You are about to lose it all anyway. You treat your own like they are Native. Soon, you will face the Great Spirit, who will teach you His ways even as He prepares to teach you through death. You will find that the people you cannot reciprocate to, even as we showed you kindness, will be the same people that have a greater place in heaven than you do. Your ways will shame you even as you are soon to be more shamed before the world.
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Joe Larisa was the mastermind of this case for 10 years, starting with Governor Almond. It was his briefs for the Town in the Supreme Court that won this case. I should know, I read them online. Charlestown is saved!! The state should have saved the $200k it paid Olson.
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Bravo and congrats to the Governor Joe Larissa and the Town Of Charlestown. Now the Indians will need to obey all state laws just like the rest of us. They are no different and should not be treated differently.
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Now can the Chief and tribe move on and do something to benefit the tribe as a whole instead of relying on income from gaming and/or tobacco? Or are we going to hear how they got screwed by the white man's law again? Could be time for some new leadership for the Narragansetts.
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According to the article:
"This means there can be no tax free smokeshop or other activity that is inconsistent with state law or town ordinance"
If I were Chief Thomas, I'd open a high end brothel, complete with dungeons and all the bells and whistles involved. Afterall, indoor prostitution is OK, and advocated by Priva Weed.
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