HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The state Supreme Court has agreed to review sovereign immunity, the long-standing doctrine that protects Indian tribes from lawsuits.

John Williams, a lawyer for Bradley W. Beecher, who has sought to sue the Mohegan Tribe, says the time is right to review the issue because some tribes, such as the Mohegans, are operating enormously profitable casinos. The Mohegans own and operate the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville.

“Indian tribes have become so hugely commercial, they are acting like a business,” Williams said. “For that reason the courts are increasingly wondering what they are.”

A lawyer who represents tribes in New England says a tribe’s finances have nothing to do with sovereignty.

“The framers of the Constitution acknowledged back in 1787 that Indian tribes were the same as a foreign country,” said Douglas Luckerman, who works with the Narragansetts of Rhode Island and the Wampanoags of Massachusetts. Chief Justice John Marshall in the 1830s found that tribes have limited sovereignty as “domestic dependent nations,” he said.

“To understand sovereign immunity is no different than to understand what happens when a diplomat comes to the United States and racks up a bunch of parking tickets,” Luckerman said. “The state can’t haul that diplomat into court.”

Charles Bunnell, a spokesman for the Mohegans, said the tribe welcomes the Supreme Court case. “We are confident we will prevail,” he said.

The state Supreme Court will review five cases involving sovereign immunity. Four involve investors and the Eastern Pequots, a state-recognized tribe in North Stonington that insists it cannot be sued. The investors include Donald Trump and J.D. DeMatteo, of Burlington.

The other is the dispute between Beecher, a former state police lieutenant, and the Mohegans, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe last year successfully sued Beecher, blocking him from publicly disclosing information he learned about tribal business when he worked as an investigator for the tribe’s gaming commission.

A Superior Court judge has dismissed a counter lawsuit by Beecher.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Congress and the courts have ruled out lawsuits against federally recognized tribes. He said he has not decided whether to become involved in these cases.

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Information from: The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com

AP-ES-11-13-05 1319EST