Opinion: Smoke shop panel has difficult job

" I don't envy Brown University President Ruth Simmons and the review commission she chairs at Governor Carcieri's request to probe the July 14 state police raid of the Narragansett Indians' tax-free smoke shop in Charlestown.

She and her five panel colleagues are not law-enforcement experts.

They are not a formal legislative committee and they lack subpoena power.

It is disappointing that there should be any question about the willingness of, or conditions for, some people to testify. Simmons says the panel is trying to do a thorough job for the people of Rhode Island. "We're not here to cast blame," she says. "We really want to provide information.""

Get the Story:
M. Charles Bakst: Simmons & Co. face tough job (The Providence Journal 8/24)