Indian Trust Case Plaintiffs Protest Judge Reassignment
Cobell v. Kempthorne - Indian Plaintiffs Ask Full Court of Appeals to Reconsider Decision of Three-Judge Panel to Reassign Judge Lamberth
Elouise Cobell, lead plaintiff in the landmark litigation known as Cobell v. Kempthorne, speaking on behalf of more than 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries, today (28 August) announced the filing of a petition asking the full U.S Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit to reconsider an unprecedented July 11, 2006 decision by a three-judge panel that reassigned U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth from the Indian trust litigation.
“Our initial plans, announced last week, were to take this issue directly to the U.S. Supreme Court”, said Ms. Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Indian Nation from Browning, Montana. “However, we reconsidered those plans to give the Court of Appeals an opportunity to correct its own error and rectify the serious harm that the decision would cause 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries.”
“If the decision was made because court of appeals judges believe that the Administration would resolve this case expeditiously and fairly, the judges are terribly mistaken. The government has never dealt with individual Indians trust beneficiaries in good faith since the inception of the Trust in 1887. The present Administration is among the worst as reflected in its opposition to the efforts of Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Bryon Dorgan, D-N.D., to legislatively settle our case on reasonable terms.”
“It is unprecedented for a federal judge to be reassigned for statements in his opinions that accurately restate record evidence and describe the deplorable conduct of the government as trustee. It is the conduct of government officials that must be publicly condemned and severely sanctioned until it stops, not the esteemed Judge who has the intellectual integrity to describe such repugnant behavior. That is not our system of justice.”
Ms. Cobell announced last week that the plaintiffs would seek en banc reconsideration of another July 11 decision by the same misguided three-judge panel that decided to reassign Judge Lamberth. That decision vacated an injunction Judge Lamberth had issued following a 59-day evidentiary hearing that proved Interior’s computer systems that house and access critical trust records and assets are riddled with catastrophic vulnerabilities that are certain to harm plaintiffs irreparably.
The full texts of both petitions to the appeals court is posted at http://www.indiantrust.com
Indian Trust http://www.indiantrust.com
Please also see the Indian Trust series in our International Law section.
Cobell v. Kempthorne - Indian Plaintiffs Ask Full Court of Appeals to Reconsider Decision of Three-Judge Panel to Reassign Judge Lamberth
Elouise Cobell, lead plaintiff in the landmark litigation known as Cobell v. Kempthorne, speaking on behalf of more than 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries, today (28 August) announced the filing of a petition asking the full U.S Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit to reconsider an unprecedented July 11, 2006 decision by a three-judge panel that reassigned U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth from the Indian trust litigation.
“Our initial plans, announced last week, were to take this issue directly to the U.S. Supreme Court”, said Ms. Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Indian Nation from Browning, Montana. “However, we reconsidered those plans to give the Court of Appeals an opportunity to correct its own error and rectify the serious harm that the decision would cause 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries.”
“If the decision was made because court of appeals judges believe that the Administration would resolve this case expeditiously and fairly, the judges are terribly mistaken. The government has never dealt with individual Indians trust beneficiaries in good faith since the inception of the Trust in 1887. The present Administration is among the worst as reflected in its opposition to the efforts of Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Bryon Dorgan, D-N.D., to legislatively settle our case on reasonable terms.”
“It is unprecedented for a federal judge to be reassigned for statements in his opinions that accurately restate record evidence and describe the deplorable conduct of the government as trustee. It is the conduct of government officials that must be publicly condemned and severely sanctioned until it stops, not the esteemed Judge who has the intellectual integrity to describe such repugnant behavior. That is not our system of justice.”
Ms. Cobell announced last week that the plaintiffs would seek en banc reconsideration of another July 11 decision by the same misguided three-judge panel that decided to reassign Judge Lamberth. That decision vacated an injunction Judge Lamberth had issued following a 59-day evidentiary hearing that proved Interior’s computer systems that house and access critical trust records and assets are riddled with catastrophic vulnerabilities that are certain to harm plaintiffs irreparably.
The full texts of both petitions to the appeals court is posted at http://www.indiantrust.com
Indian Trust http://www.indiantrust.com
Please also see the Indian Trust series in our International Law section.