Court rules for state in American Indian land case
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 24, 2009; 10:12 AM

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has limited the federal government’s authority to hold land in trust for Indian tribes, a victory for states seeking to impose local laws and control over development on Indian lands.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.The ruling comes in a case involving the Narragansett Indian Tribe in Rhode Island and a 31-acre tract of land.The case is Carcieri v. Salazar, 07-526.