Judge signals concern for tribal impact

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2003

Over the objections of the Bush administration, the federal judge overseeing the Cobell trust fund lawsuit on Monday accepted an amicus brief filed by the nation's largest inter-tribal organization.

Tribes are not parties to the litigation but U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said issues raised by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) "may be helpful and of interest" to the court. Citing his upcoming trial regarding a fix to the broken trust system, he said "it does not seem unreasonable for the court to consider the potential impact that such relief might have on American Indian tribes."

Tribal leaders have been worried that the Department of Interior's response to the case has been negatively impacting their rights. Lamberth's ruling yesterday signaled a conscious effort to address those concerns.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not oppose NCAI's brief but the government did. Lamberth said it would not be an "undue burden" for the government to respond to the NCAI brief.

NCAI represents more than 200 tribes and Alaska Native governments.

On the other hand, Lamberth rejected an attempt by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma to file a brief. "Both plaintiffs and defendants persuasively argue that granting the Quapaw Tribe's motion would encourage other individual tribes to move for leave to file similar amici briefs, which would unduly expand the already extensive record in this case," Lamberth wrote.

Lamberth has scheduled a trial in May to consider ways to correct more than a century of trust fund mismanagement. He has indicated that he will impose a structural injunction on the government, which is a form of corrective action often used in cases of dysfunctional systems.

The trial is a prelude to resolution of the long-running case.

Get the Decision:
Order Granting Leave to National Congress of American Indians to file Amicus Brief; Denying Leave to Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma (March 3, 2003)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp