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MONDAY, MAY 20, 2002

The Supreme Court will decide next week whether to accept its second Indian trust case of the term and potentially limit the extent of the government's responsibilities to tribes.

A conference on the Navajo Nation's $600 million royalty case is scheduled for May 30. The Justices at this meeting will decide whether to hear the dispute and announce their decision in a subsequent order.

The Bush administration wants to overturn a ruling which determined the tribe was owed money for a breach of trust. A divided panel of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals paved the way for the collection of as much as $300 million in lost royalties.

The Supreme Court has accepted another breach of trust case involving the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona. Oral arguments are expected in November.

Related Documents:
Supreme Court Docket Sheet | DOJ Brief

Related Decisions:
NAVAJO NATION v. US, No 00-5086 (Fed Cir. August 10, 2001)

Relevant Links:
The Navajo Nation - http://www.navajo.org
Peabody Energy - http://www.peabodyenergy.com

Related Stories:
Court to decide limits of trust duty (4/23)
Bush wants Navajo ruling reversed (3/27)
Court rules Navajo Nation owed money (8/14)
Apache Tribe wins trust case appeal (5/17)
Tribe wins trust case appeal (5/14)
Peabody mining protested (4/3)
Peabody defends water usage (3/26)