MB Civic

To: fcnl-nalu
From: Pat Powers
Subject: [fcnl-nalu] Indian Court Case Change; Litigation and Legislation Continues
Date: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 2:11 PM
 

The U.S. Court of Appeals has removed District Court Judge Royce Lamberth from the  Indian trust fund mismanagement case because, the appeals court said, Judge Lamberth’s decisions were too frequently reversed by a higher court and he showed a lack of objectivity as a result of his frustration with the Interior  Department.  The merits of the individual Indians’s case are not in dispute and a new judge will be
appointed to handle what is known as the Cobell case, after lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet tribe.

The higher appellate court stated that the federal government’s failure to do its fiduciary duties to properly handle the Indians’ money resulted in “a serious injustice that has persisted for over a century and cries out for redress.”  The higher court complained that “no remedy
is in sight” for redress from Interior.  Thus, as it appoints a new judge, the higher court is saying that the Individual Indian Money account holders who brought the case have a “worthy cause.” 

FCNL thanks Judge Lamberth for his 10 years of indefatigable effort and hopes the case will reach a swift, fair resolution. FCNL also urges Congress to pass legislation this year to remedy more than a century of injustice and fix the Indian trust fund scandal. Fortunately, legislation in  Congress (S. 1439 and H.R. 4322) to settle this case will continue.

Judge Removed For Defending Indians, Frustration with Interior Department

The Department of Interior insisted that a different judge be assigned to the Cobell case arguing that Judge Lamberth went too far in an opinion in July 2005 that charged the modern Interior Department with
racism and outright villainy.  The higher court defended Judge Lamberth’s harsh language in that opinion as views of an
experienced judge in a contentious case lasting a decade who was ill disposed
toward Interior for having flagrantly and repeatedly breached its fiduciary obligations.  “Interior’s deplorable record deserves condemnation in the strongest terms,” wrote the appeals court.  The panel of judges on the higher court did not fault Judge  Lamberth for stating his fierce indignation about government inaction and resistance to righting a multi-billion dollar wrong created through its lack of record keeping and far more.

Instead, the Court of Appeals removed Judge Lamberth because his experience over the last ten years with the Interior department had resulted in a perceived inability to be objective.  Judge Lambert was not accused of improprieties, personal economic gain, improper communications with the media or others, partisan political bias, or losing his temper in the courtroom and verbally condemning Interior officials.  To use a sports analogy from the final game of the 2006 World Cup tournament, this was not an angry headbutt or temper outburst
such as the one that got French soccer star Zidane thrown out of the game for attacking Italy’s Materazzi.  Judge Lamberth wrote a 34 page legal opinion which was laced with statements of indignation against Interior as an agency that had mistreated American Indians. He wrote his strong critique to justify his order that Interior must tell individual Indian Money Account holders that their trust accounts had many errors
because of Interior failings. This can be compared to auto companies having to tell buyers that their cars had flaws and must be recalled. Judge Lamberth was not accused of political bias. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, he held officials from both the Clinton and Bush administrations in contempt.  Since many of Judge Lamberth’s orders to force Interior to take specific actions were overturned, the higher court focused on those reversals in reassigning the case.Judge Saw Big Picture Over a period of years.

Judge Lamberth has developed a  reputation in Indian county as someone who “heard” when  American Indians asked for an
accounting of their own money held by the Department of Interior. Lamberth became a symbol of hope to many dispirited Indian families.  He grasped how significant the case was and moved it forward.  The Cobell
case became a landmark class action suit for Native Americans.  Elouise Cobell became a heroine in eyes of thousands for sticking up for her people.  She and Judge Lamberth have been “thorns in the sides” of Interior, Justice, and Treasury officials.  

Judge Lamberth’s rulings on behalf of the 500,000 plaintiffs took money and the time and attention of Interior administrators who had to fix problems they should have handled scores of years ago.

Eventually, as money for trust fund reform began eating into the budget of other important Indian programs, the case created concern in Indian Country.
Nevertheless, Indian advocates knew this was the one occasion offering any chance that the federal government would repay what it owed to Indian families.

FCNL Statement on the Removal of Judge Lamberth:
Judge Lamberth listened to people long ignored. We at FCNL appreciate his heartfelt passion and his plain spokenness.  It is hard to think of another person who has risked so much professionally to stop egregious conduct against American Indians continuing today and to encourage our government to demonstrate that this is a new era of reconciliation where it can be counted on by Native American people.  Some see Lamberth as injudicious and too harsh against current Interior officials; others,including a former judge, view him as having integrity and being courageous in ruling in favor of a people “stamped all over by the federal government.”  FCNL is not second guessing the appellate court which wrote a thoughtful decision.  We did not agree with all of the judge’s orders and certainly, the tone of his rulings has sometimes appeared less temperate than is usually heard from the bench. We are thanking the judge for (1) engaging Interior in a search for justice and, through his rulings, (2) raising the awareness of the public, the media, and the Congress about the documentation of  Interior’s
negligence and the Indians’s claims. 

Next Step

FCNL urges the federal government to act ethically and promptly to remedy what can be most charitably called “mismanagement mistakes.”  We ask U.S. senators and representatives to fix the Indian trust fund scandal this session of Congress.  Bills have been introduced (S. 1439 and H.R. 5312).

Go to http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1972&issue_id=112 for FCNL’s statement on Judge Lamberth.

For additional information, go to

http://www.fcnl.org/issues/issue.php?issue_id=112
    
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0714/p02s01-usju.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/277602_trahant16.html _______________________________________

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