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TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2003

Famed lawyer / Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz says a Massachusetts judge who ruled that the Gay Head Wampanoag Tribe can't be sued might be wrong.

Dershowitz doesn't know what the right answer is in the case but it probably needs to be settled out-of-court. As resident of Martha's Vineyard, where the tribe lives, he says maybe the island should have one big meeting.

"This would be a way to discuss ideas in a constructive way, and it would be a way to show that we don't need the courts to tell us what's right. And all of us who love this Island should get involved," he told The Vineyard Gazette.

Dershowitz said if the tribe sues, it will waive its sovereign immunity.

Get the Story:
Alan Dershowitz Reflects on Issues of Sovereignty and Future of Vineyard (The Vineyard Gazette 7/22)

Get the Decision:
Town of Aquinnah v. Gay Head Wampanoag Tribe (June 11, 2003)

Related Stories:
Mass. town argues for jurisdiction over tribe (7/21)
Mass. judge asked to reconsider sovereignty ruling (06/24)
Mass. court affirms tribe's sovereignty (6/18)
Mass. tribe argues for sovereign rights on land (02/14)