Accounts that were closed as of October 25, 1994 -- the date Congress passed the trust reform act.Despite the limits, the government calls the accounting plan "generous" because it goes as far back as 1938 for certain transactions. The brief claims Interior doesn't even have a duty to account for transactions prior to October 1, 1984. The 1984 date comes from the general six-year statute of limitations imposed on lawsuits against the government. Interior claims the clock started running in 1990 because Congress included "toiling language" on Indian trust claims in an appropriations act that year. In a trust case involving two Wyoming tribes, the Bush administration asked the Supreme Court to rule that the rider bars claims prior to October 1, 1984. The justices, however, declined to take the case. The Cobell plaintiffs filed their own briefs on Friday that called on Judge James Robertson to reject Interior's attempts to limit the accounting. In a statement, lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana called the plan flawed. "The government's proposal is nothing more than a cruel hoax: a plan that would give most Indian trust beneficiaries little of the information that a true accounting would provide," Cobell said. In October, Robertson heard 10 full days of testimony about the accounting. He has questioned some of the limits being imposed by the Bush administration but has not made any rulings on the issue. This December marks the eighth anniversary of Judge Royce Lamberth's ruling that Interior must account for "all funds" in the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust. The Bush administration got him removed from the case over claims of bias. Final Briefs:
Closed accounts belonging to deceased Indian landowners because their funds "are" no longer held in trust.
Transactions earlier than June 24, 1938 -- the date of another Indian trust fund act.
Landowners who received direct payments from energy companies and other developers because those funds were never "held" in trust by the government.
Cobell Brief: Conclusions of Law | Cobell Brief: Findings of Fact DOJ Brief: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law Trial Transcripts:
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Cobell v. Kempthorne (April 20,2007) Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kempthorne - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm