Carcieri v. Salazar
| Carcieri v. Salazar | |
|---|---|
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| Argued November 3, 2008 Decided February 24, 2009 |
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| Full case name | Donald L. Carcieri, Governor of Rhode Island v. Ken L. Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, et al. |
| Docket nos. | 07-526 |
| Citations | 555 U.S. 379 (more)
129 S. Ct. 1058; 172 L. Ed. 2d 791
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| Prior history | Carcieri v. Norton, 290 F.Supp.2d 167 (D.R.I. 2003); Carcieri v. Norton, 423 F.3d 45 (1st Cir. R.I. 2005); Carcieri v. Kempthorne, 497 F.3d 15 (1st Cir. 2007) |
| Holding | |
| The term "now under Federal jurisdiction" referred only to tribes that were federal recognized when the Indian Reorganization Act became law and the federal government could not take land into trust from tribes that were recognized after 1934. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Thomas, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito |
| Concurrence | Breyer |
| Concur/dissent | Souter, joined by Ginsburg |
| Dissent | Stevens |
| Laws applied | |
| 25 U.S.C. §§ 465, 479 | |
Carcieri v. Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the federal government could not take land into trust that was acquired by the Narragansett Tribe, which did not have federal recognition until 1983. While well documented in historic records and surviving as a community, the tribe was largely disposessed of its lands while under guardianship by the state of Rhode Island before suing in the 20th century.
The Court ruled that the phrase of tribes "now under Federal jurisdiction" in the Indian Reorganization Act referred only to those tribes that were federally recognized when the act was passed. It ruled that the federal government could not take land into trust from the Narragansett or other tribes that were federally recognized and acquired land after 1934.
The Narragansett tribe was recorded as having first contact by Europeans in 1524 at Narrangansett Bay, Rhode Island. Following King Philip's War, when the English settlers attacked tribes across southern New England, the tribe absorbed several smaller tribes, such as the Niantic. In 1709 it came under the guardianship of the colony of Rhode Island. From 1880 to 1884, Rhode Island attempted to dissolve the tribe, selling off all but 2 acres (8,100 m2) of tribal land.
The tribe resisted, requesting repeatedly to be dealt with as a tribe. It filed suit against the state in January 1975, accusing the state of mismanagement of its lands.
In the resulting settlement, Rhode Island placed 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) of land into trust for the tribe, with the condition that with the exception of hunting and fishing regulations, state law would apply on the land.
Following this, the tribe applied for federal recognition in 1979, which was granted in 1983. At that time, its land was taken into trust by the federal government on the tribe's behalf. The tribe and the state have disagreed on a number of issues, including the collection of taxes on cigarettes sold at a reservation smoke shop and the proposed building of a gaming casino on reservation land. In 1991, the tribe purchased 31 acres (130,000 m2) to be used for housing for elderly tribal members, and petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to take the land into trust as provided for under the Indian Reorganization Act, thus removing it from state jurisdiction.
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