UPDATE
COBELL ISSUES STATEMENT ON SETTLEMENT TALKS
Statement of Elouise Cobell of Browning Mont.
BROWNING, MONT., July 25 -- "I have been quoted as saying that an $8 billion dollar settlement amount for the historical accounting claims of 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries is "equitable.'
That is not what I said.
That is not what I believe.
What I know is that Indian people have been abused and cheated out of our trust income, and continue to be cheated, by government officials who are in an egregious breach of trust.
Nonetheless, it would be foolish to ignore political realities while our people continue to go without the basic staples of life.
That is why I and the other representative plaintiffs -- in consultation with class members -- are considering this settlement offer. We have not come to any conclusions whether to support this or not. Our deliberations are on-going."
http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.ViewDetail&PressRelease_id=164&Month=7&Year=2006
Please continue...
U.S. COURT RULINGS UPHOLDS BASIC TENETS OF TRUST CASE,
ELOUISE COBELL SAYS
PRAISES JUDGE LAMBERTH FOR HIS HEROIC ROLE IN CASE
Statement by Elouise Cobell of Browning, Montana, U.S.A., lead plaintiff in Cobell vs. Kempthorne and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe
WASHINGTON, July 11 -- Today's decisions reaffirmed the basic tenets of our case: that the government owes substantial fiduciary duties to the more than 500,000 individual Indian Trust beneficiaries, that the Interior Department has been and continues to be in "egregious" breach of those duties and that the courts play a critical role in remedying that breach.
Moreover, the U.S. Court of Appeals reiterated that the government's conduct is unconscionable: "To be sure, Interior's deplorable record deserves condemnation in the strongest terms. Words like 'ignominious' and 'incompeten[t]' ...and 'malfeasance' and 'recalcitrance' are fair and well-supported by the record."
We are disappointed that Indian trust case has been reassigned because this will end the truly heroic efforts of a sincere and devoted jurist, the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, to remedy the century of abuse of Indian people by the Department of Interior. That abuse continues to this day.
The appeals court's opinions reaffirmed the fundamental basis of our class-action lawsuit: that the government has abused trust beneficiaries and has failed to fulfill the most basic trust responsibilities owed to us. Further, the decisions emphasize that the government has yet to perform the basic accounting that it must offer trust account holders. The rulings did much to underscore the key points that we have been making:
"To be sure," the court said, "we have no doubt Interior's trust account information has serious reliability problems."
Even Judge Lamberth's strongly worded opinion of July 12, 2005, was described by the court as "nothing more than the views of an experienced judge who, having presided over this exceptionally contentious case for almost a decade has become 'exceedingly ill disposed toward [a] defendant' that has flagrantly and repeated breached its fiduciary obligations."
In no way do these decisions exonerate the behavior of the Interior Department, lessen the obligations owed to Individual Indians or shrink the extraordinary liability of the United States.
Moreover, the court's rulings today make clear that Judge Lamberth's finding that Interior's computer systems are insecure are indisputable. Removing the injunction he had ordered will cause further problems to that data. Because the computer security decision is in conflict with the Supreme Court's decisions in Mitchell II and White Mountain Apache, we plan to petition the Supreme Court for relief.
The removal decision provides a clear mandate for a new judge to move promptly and directly to resolve this matter. We agree with the court's suggestion that this litigation has gone on too long. We have attempted to resolve the case out of court and we are continuing to do so.
Our success in this case is based on the evidence, facts and applicable law. With any new judge, we will continue to prevail.
The 500,000 Native People we represent should know that the basic foundations on which both Judge Lamberth and the Court of Appeals have based their many rulings against the government remain intact. The fact that the government has breached its trust obligation to Native People was once again written into law today. It should give a new judge a roadmap to resolve this litigation expeditiously and fairly.
As for Judge Lamberth, he is, as Dennis Gingold, the lead counsel, has said, "a great judge. He had the courage to speak the truth about the repugnant behavior and deplorable record of the Interior trustee delegates. We will miss him."
Indian Trust http://www.indiantrust.com
Please also see the Indian Trust series in our International Law section.
COBELL ISSUES STATEMENT ON SETTLEMENT TALKS
Statement of Elouise Cobell of Browning Mont.
BROWNING, MONT., July 25 -- "I have been quoted as saying that an $8 billion dollar settlement amount for the historical accounting claims of 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries is "equitable.'
That is not what I said.
That is not what I believe.
What I know is that Indian people have been abused and cheated out of our trust income, and continue to be cheated, by government officials who are in an egregious breach of trust.
Nonetheless, it would be foolish to ignore political realities while our people continue to go without the basic staples of life.
That is why I and the other representative plaintiffs -- in consultation with class members -- are considering this settlement offer. We have not come to any conclusions whether to support this or not. Our deliberations are on-going."
http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.ViewDetail&PressRelease_id=164&Month=7&Year=2006
Please continue...
U.S. COURT RULINGS UPHOLDS BASIC TENETS OF TRUST CASE,
ELOUISE COBELL SAYS
PRAISES JUDGE LAMBERTH FOR HIS HEROIC ROLE IN CASE
Statement by Elouise Cobell of Browning, Montana, U.S.A., lead plaintiff in Cobell vs. Kempthorne and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe
WASHINGTON, July 11 -- Today's decisions reaffirmed the basic tenets of our case: that the government owes substantial fiduciary duties to the more than 500,000 individual Indian Trust beneficiaries, that the Interior Department has been and continues to be in "egregious" breach of those duties and that the courts play a critical role in remedying that breach.
Moreover, the U.S. Court of Appeals reiterated that the government's conduct is unconscionable: "To be sure, Interior's deplorable record deserves condemnation in the strongest terms. Words like 'ignominious' and 'incompeten[t]' ...and 'malfeasance' and 'recalcitrance' are fair and well-supported by the record."
We are disappointed that Indian trust case has been reassigned because this will end the truly heroic efforts of a sincere and devoted jurist, the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, to remedy the century of abuse of Indian people by the Department of Interior. That abuse continues to this day.
The appeals court's opinions reaffirmed the fundamental basis of our class-action lawsuit: that the government has abused trust beneficiaries and has failed to fulfill the most basic trust responsibilities owed to us. Further, the decisions emphasize that the government has yet to perform the basic accounting that it must offer trust account holders. The rulings did much to underscore the key points that we have been making:
"To be sure," the court said, "we have no doubt Interior's trust account information has serious reliability problems."
Even Judge Lamberth's strongly worded opinion of July 12, 2005, was described by the court as "nothing more than the views of an experienced judge who, having presided over this exceptionally contentious case for almost a decade has become 'exceedingly ill disposed toward [a] defendant' that has flagrantly and repeated breached its fiduciary obligations."
In no way do these decisions exonerate the behavior of the Interior Department, lessen the obligations owed to Individual Indians or shrink the extraordinary liability of the United States.
Moreover, the court's rulings today make clear that Judge Lamberth's finding that Interior's computer systems are insecure are indisputable. Removing the injunction he had ordered will cause further problems to that data. Because the computer security decision is in conflict with the Supreme Court's decisions in Mitchell II and White Mountain Apache, we plan to petition the Supreme Court for relief.
The removal decision provides a clear mandate for a new judge to move promptly and directly to resolve this matter. We agree with the court's suggestion that this litigation has gone on too long. We have attempted to resolve the case out of court and we are continuing to do so.
Our success in this case is based on the evidence, facts and applicable law. With any new judge, we will continue to prevail.
The 500,000 Native People we represent should know that the basic foundations on which both Judge Lamberth and the Court of Appeals have based their many rulings against the government remain intact. The fact that the government has breached its trust obligation to Native People was once again written into law today. It should give a new judge a roadmap to resolve this litigation expeditiously and fairly.
As for Judge Lamberth, he is, as Dennis Gingold, the lead counsel, has said, "a great judge. He had the courage to speak the truth about the repugnant behavior and deplorable record of the Interior trustee delegates. We will miss him."
Indian Trust http://www.indiantrust.com
Please also see the Indian Trust series in our International Law section.