Efforts to build a casino defeated
The Narragansett Indian tribe of Rhode Island has been subpoenaed as part of a criminal investigation, according to a federal appeals court decision unsealed late last month. The case is under seal, and no details about the matter have been released, the Associated Press reported.
A previous subpoena was served in October 2012 to the tribe’s historic preservation office, which oversees “historic preservation, Indian graves’ protection and religious freedom and other relevant cultural matters,” according to the tribe’s website. While the appeals court ruled that the tribe did not have to comply with the subpoena because the grand jury was discharged, it also found that sovereign immunity cannot shield the tribe from a federal probe.
“Tribal sovereign immunity provides no refuge from the subpoena power of a federal grand jury,” the court wrote.
The tribe received federal recognition in 1983. Since then, it has been “plagued by a series of setbacks and legal woes,” the AP reported. In 2003, the Indians opened a tax-free smoke shop on its land. It was raided by state police, and a violent altercation ensued. The appeals court later ruled the shop was operating illegally.
In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court thwarted the tribe’s attempt to get the federal government to place 31 acres in Charlestown into trust, so the tribe could begin the process of developing a casino. In 2006, voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the tribe to build a gaming hall on the property. And last year, a tribal housing official pleaded guilty to embezzling federal housing funds.
