Court throws out money judgment to Indians, orders accounting

CHRIS CASTEEL, Washington Bureau Comments 7
Published: July 24, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Interior Department must provide a proper accounting to Indians who have individual trust accounts, a federal appeals court ruled today in the long-running legal battle over the accounts.

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a district judge's award of $455.6 million to the Indian account holders and said the judge must order the Interior Department to do the best accounting possible with the money Congress is willing to spend on it.

The Indians in the case -- known as the Cobell case for the lead plaintiff, Elouise Cobell -- had appealed the $456.6 judgement made by U.S. District Judge James Robertson, saying it wasn't enough. The Indians had sought a judgement of $47 billion.

The appeals court said today the law under which the Indians sued the government entitles the account holders to know how much money should be in their accounts. Robertson had ruled such an accounting would be impossible because of the complexity of accounts going back more than 100 years and because Congress had refused to appropriate the money the government sought to perform the accounting.

But the appeals court said today, "It is within the power of the district court to order an accounting without requiring Interior to perform analyses the costs of which exceed the benefits payable to individual American Indians. It would indeed be 'nuts' to spend billions to recover millions ... A court sitting in equity may avoid reaching that absurdity."

The accounts were established in 1887 to hold the proceeds from leases on land owned by individual Indians for such activities as oil and gas drilling, grazing and timber cutting. The Indians sued the government in 1996 claiming the trust system was being mismanaged.

Two district judges and the appeals court have ruled that the government is in breach of its trust duties to the Indians.

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Related Topics: Science and Technology, Technology, Trials, Appellate Trials, Oil Production and Refining, Energy Technology

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Ross O Swimmer has A lot in the bank I bet and Chad 2wife Smith send's it to Politicos like Brad Can't pay his Cell Bill Carson?
Time the CNO Inc. has A Audit.
Look at Global Energy Group 14 Million dollars of Federal Tax Payer Money lost but who really Got The Cash?
Carson Smith and Swimmer?

A, watauga - Jul 25, 2009 at 10:04 am

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see the article about ststes spending money collected for upgrades to the cell phone system and you will know where this money went.

Gary, Oklahoma City - Jul 24, 2009 at 1:53 pm

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The Anderson Accounting firm who was originally, suppose to come up with a realistic accounting was supposedly, having a paper shredding party with all the boxes and boxes of documents the government had kept for the past 100 years. The money is still there and still accumulating from all the oil and gas wells that the Bureau of Land Management and all of the other Bureaus that have put money into the Indian Trust Account for all of these years. Its a question of accountability toward the beneficiaries which the Trust was established for in the first place and giving them their money that the United States will convey the same patent to said Indians or his heirs, as aforesaid, in fee, in trust and free of all charges or incumbrances whatsoever, for the sole use and benefit of said Indians and or in case of his decease, for the sole use of his heirs!

Candace, Lakeland - Jul 24, 2009 at 1:08 pm

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The Government is afraid to have to account for the moneys it should have in accounts for the indians. I would be willing to wager that this will open a whole new can of worms that will be quickly swept under the carpet.

Bill, Paden - Jul 24, 2009 at 1:05 pm

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The records are somewhere and if not why not? Maybe the government spent the money on other programs or those in accounting put some money into their pockets. It seems proper that a full accounting is warranted.

citizen, Edmond - Jul 24, 2009 at 12:23 pm

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Not allowing comments here today?

Kevin, Oklahoma City - Jul 24, 2009 at 11:15 am

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So...the US Interior Department has done such a crappy job for so long, they say they shouldn't be held accountable for keeping track of all the money for which they've been in charge for a hundred and twelve years?

Kevin, Oklahoma City - Jul 24, 2009 at 11:14 am

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