In a victory for Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, the United States Supreme Court
ruled that the federal government cannot place in trust 31 acres owned by
the Narragansett Indian tribe. The tribe bought the land in 1991 and the
Department of Interior agreed to take it into trust, exempting it from many
state laws, in 1998. The state went to court out of concern that the tribe
would open a casino or tax-free business on the land. The court found that
the tribe could not remove its land from state control because it was not
federally recognized until after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.