Congress has mandated, the Court has ordered, and the beneficiaries have pleaded for meaningful reform of the IIM trust. This Court need not sit supinely by waiting, hoping that the Department of Interior complies with the orders of this Court and the fiduciary obligations mandated by Congress in the 1994 Act. To do so would be futile. I may have life tenure, but at the rate the Department of Interior is progressing that is not a long enough appointment. Accordingly, the Court has ordered relief today that it views as being absolutely necessary to getting both this case and trust reform back on track. In the meantime, Secretary Norton and Assistant Secretary McCaleb can now rightfully take their place alongside former-Secretary Babbitt and former-Assistant Secretary Gover in the pantheon of unfit trustee-delegates.


Opinion: http://www.indiantrust.com/documents/2002.09.17_Contempt2Opinion.pdf

Order: http://www.indiantrust.com/documents/2002.09.17_Contempt2Order.pdf

For more information, please see the Indian Trust articles in our International Law section and http://www.indiantrust.com

Photo of Eloise Cobell, courtesy of Indian Trust