In a decision hailed by state and local governments, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the federal government can only annex land on behalf of Indian tribes that were federally recognized in 1934, effectively prohibiting tribes like the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans from expanding beyond their settlement areas.

Both tribes, which operate casino resorts in southeastern Connecticut, said the 6-1 decision in a case involving the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Charlestown, R.I., would have little impact on them. But it has the potential to profoundly affect ambitious, newly recognized tribes across the country, including the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, which is hoping to build a casino in Massachusetts.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who was among officials from 21 states who filed briefs in support of Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri's position, convened a press conference in Hartford to call attention to “this huge, historic victory.”

”I am pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court decisively agreed with our argument, ending more than a decade of rancorous wrangling over tribal attempts to take land into trust,” Blumenthal said. “Towns bordering the reservations no longer face the fear of massive tax revenue losses caused by tribes taking land into trust.”

The Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans issued statements critical of the ruling.

”This is a very poor decision reversing more than 50 years of practice by the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” said Jackson T. King, general counsel for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council. “Happily, it's academic for us. … We don't have any intent to expand. ... All the land within our settlement area that we own is now in trust. We don't have anything pending (beyond that), and don't anticipate anything.”

”Although the Mohegan Tribe is not affected at all by today's decision, we believe the Supreme Court took an extremely narrow interpretation of the law and their decision is potentially devastating to certain members of Indian country,” the Mohegans said. “We are hopeful that the United States Congress will quickly work with the Department of the Interior to fix this problem with legislation.”

King said land within the Mashantucket Pequots' settlement area that's owned by another party could still be placed in trust if the tribe acquires it. In 2002, the Mashantucket Pequots withdrew their request to annex 165 acres outside their reservation, ending seven years of litigation initiated by the state and the towns of Ledyard, North Stonington and Preston.

In that case, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court ruling in favor of the state and towns. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the appeals court ruling.

”The towns finally get some closure, some finality,” said Nicholas Mullane, North Stonington's first selectman.

The ruling could make it difficult for tribes seeking federal recognition to get backing for their efforts, Mullane said. That could be the case with the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation of North Stonington, which may yet appeal the Department of the Interior's denial of its application for federal recognition. The tribe, which had a preliminary approval of its application overturned, at one time contemplated an off-reservation casino development.

Tuesday's ruling, in which the high court overturned the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, turned on an interpretation of a phrase in the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. The law allows the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for members of recognized tribes “now under Federal jurisdiction.”

Carcieri and other Rhode Island officials contended “now” refers to the time the law was enacted in June 1934. The respondents argued that “now” could be construed to mean the time at which the land is accepted into trust.

”Because the record in this case establishes that the Narragansett Tribe was not under federal jurisdiction when the IRA was enacted, the Secretary does not have the authority to take the parcel at issue into trust,” the court ruled in a majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The Narragansetts gained federal recognition in 1983. The Mashantucket Pequots also did so that year, and the Mohegans followed in 1994. The Mashpee Wampanoags became federally recognized in 2007, and have asked the federal government to take more than 500 acres into federal trust in Middleborough, Mass., where they hope to build a casino.

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