The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused to weigh in on whether state authorities can enforce Rhode Island laws on Narragansett Indian land, in a case spurred by a dramatic raid on a tribal smoke shop three summers ago.

In doing so, the court let stand a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the state had the right to enforce its laws on tribal land. That decision found that the Narragansetts had ceded their immunity from state law in 1978, when they entered into the agreement that gave them 1,800 acres in Charlestown.

The court's failure to review the case ends the tribe's legal battle and marks the second blow to the Narragansetts in matter of weeks. Voters on Nov. 7 resoundingly rejected the tribe's bid to build a casino in West Warwick with Harrah's Entertainment, despite an intense advertising push.

The Narragansett Indians began selling tax-free cigarettes from a roadside smoke shop on tribal land on July, 12, 2003. On Governor Carcieri's orders, the state police obtained a search warrant from a Rhode Island court and raided the shop two days later in what erupted into a violent, and widely televised, clash. Troopers seized cigarettes and arrested eight tribal members, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas.

The Narragansetts argued in U.S. District Court they did not have to abide by state tax laws because they had sovereign rights as a federally recognized tribe. The court, however, ruled in the state's favor. Judge William E. Smith concluded the tribe was bound by state tax and criminal laws, and that the state was well within its rights in raiding the smoke shop to halt the sale of tax-free cigarettes.

A three-judge panel from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the tribe's appeal and agreed with Smith that the tribe had to collect state sales tax on its tobacco sales. But the court also found that the state troopers had violated the Narragansetts' sovereignty by executing the raid.

The full appeals court agreed to review the case after the state claimed the panel's decision left murky how the police should enforce laws against the tribal government.

The court in May accepted the state's contention that raid -- and the subsequent arrests -- was lawful. The decision noted that the tribe had agreed that state law would apply on the tribal land as part of its land claims settlement in 1978.

Without explanation the Supreme Court yesterday included the smoke shop case among a list of more than 200 that it declined to act on.

Governor Carcieri viewed yesterday's decision as vindication.

"As I said when the Appeals Court issued its decision, no Rhode Islander has a right to willfully ignore state law. No Rhode Islander should be allowed to evade state regulations or avoid paying state taxes," Carcieri said in a statement. "It is my hope that today's decision by the Supreme Court will allow the state and the Narragansett Indians to move forward in building a more cooperative relationship that is based on the rule of law and the agreement that we entered into decades ago."

Joseph S. Larisa Jr., who represented Charlestown's interests in the case, also had praise.

"It's the end of a long, interesting saga in state, town and tribal relations," he said. The courts have upheld, he said, that the tribe agreed to state and local jurisdiction on its lands in 1978.

Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas accused the state of trying to break the tribe's spirit -- a prospect that will not happen, he said.

"This is no different than what happened hundreds of years ago. If you really look at history, nothing's changed, except the weapons of choice," said Thomas, who was away on vacation.

The tribe will meet soon to decide how it will proceed, he said.

Douglas Luckerman, a Boston-based lawyer for the tribe, expressed disgust and exasperation with what he viewed as the state's continual challenges to the tribe's economic development ventures.

"It's a Pyrrhic victory," Luckerman said. The state wants the power to control the Narragansetts and yet it will not work with the tribe toward financial stability, he said.

"It's up to the state what kind of posture it wants to take with the tribe," he said. "It's in the best interest of the state to help the tribe find a way for economic development. I hope that the state will decide to take a different tack."

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, too, weighed in.

"What this means is what we have known since 1978, when the State and the Tribe entered their agreement that Congress ratified -- namely, that the State acted properly and was legally justified in entering the settlement lands, executing the search warrant for contraband cigarettes, and arresting the Tribal members during the execution of the search warrant," Lynch said in a statement.

"As the First Circuit Court of Appeals has previously observed, the Settlement Act of 1978 was a carefully calibrated agreement between sovereigns' whose terms can be rewritten only by Congress. We have always understood the parameters of our relationship with the Tribe, and we appreciate the Court's reaffirmation of those parameters today. Now that the law is settled and clear to all parties, we can all move forward, resolved to improve this important relationship," he said.

The state plans to prosecute the criminal charges against the tribal members arrested in the raid, said Michael Healey, spokesman for the attorney general. Thomas and seven other Narragansetts face an array of charges ranging from resisting arrest to assaulting a police officer to disorderly conduct. The juvenile who was arrested was referred to Family Court, Healey said.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for Dec. 15 in District Court, Wakefield.

-- With projo.com staff reports