Cobell Settlement Info

Ask Elouise

January 20, 2012

Dear Indian Country Following the passing of our leader and friend, Elouise Cobell, Class Counsel is responding to your continuing questions and concerns regarding the settlement of the Cobell lawsuit.

What is the current status of the settlement? Unfortunately, notwithstanding the hopes and wishes of 500,000 individual Indians and despite Class Counsel’s best efforts, the settlement has been delayed by 4 class members, each of whom is challenging the landmark settlement in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. We expect that these appeals will be resolved in another 6 months, provided that no appellant seeks further review in the Supreme Court.

But for these appeals, your Historical Accounting Class payments would have been distributed before Thanksgiving 2011, and it is likely that your Trust Administration Class payments would have been made by Easter 2012.

However, because of the appeals, your Historical Accounting Class and Trust Administration Class payments cannot be made until after the appeals have been resolved, provided that we prevail on appeal. No one knows when that will occur. Historical Accounting Class payments should be made within a few weeks after the appeals are decided. Trust Administration

Class payments should be made within about 6 months after you receive your Historical Accounting Class payment. Class Counsel understands your increasing frustration and concerns. We know the difficulties many of you face and we have spoken to hundreds of you who are in extremis this winter season. It is with our utmost sympathy and disappointment that we share this unfortunate news.

Who is appealing? And, why are they appealing? Your payments are being held-up by 4 people: Kimberly Craven (Sissten-Wahpeton Oyate), Charles Colombe (Rosebud Sioux), Carol Eve Good Bear (Fort Berthold Reservation), and Mary Lee Johns (Cheyenne River Sioux). Notably, Colombe, Good Bear and Johns are represented by David (Davey) Harrison, an Albuquerque lawyer and former BIA employee.

Their reasons vary slightly, but are the same on one fundamental point. At bottom, each believes that you are not entitled to the relief (nor the payment of your trust funds) that has been provided in the settlement agreement notwithstanding a century of abuse, malfeasance and breaches of trust by the United States government. Each of the appealing class members has filed papers that will kill the settlement if any one of them prevails on appeal. This means that you would receive nothing from the settlement: no payment, no scholarship funds, no land consolidation, and no further trust reform.

Craven has railed against the settlement since it was first announced over two years ago, going so far as to claim: “after 14 years of acrimonious litigation, the Cobell plaintiffs are entitled to no monetary recovery whatsoever from the courts.” (http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/112807-bailing-out-the-smartest-guys-in-the-room). Mary Johns has sought to remove the judge who approved the settlement, Thomas F. Hogan. There is little doubt that they do not share the desires or care about the needs of the class, over 99.9% of whom support a prompt conclusion to this long-running, acrimonious case.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  AT THE REQUEST OF OPPOSING COUNSEL, THE BLOG STAFF HAS DELETED A SECTION OF THIS "ASK ELOUISE" LETTER ON THE COBELL SETTLEMENT HAVING TO DO WITH PERSONAL, THOUGH PUBLIC, INFORMATION ABOUT THOSE OPPOSING THE SETTLEMENT.  THE BLOG STAFF IS NOT FOND OF CENSORSHIP, BUT NEITHER DOES IT WISH TO, EVEN IN THE COURSE OF POSTING LEGITIMATE NEWS ON INDIAN LAW, GET IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEONE ELSE'S FIGHT.  TWP

 Isn’t there something you can do to speed up this process? No. Class Counsel has reached out to the 2 attorneys who represent the 4 appealing class members to resolve or settle whatever issue they may have with the settlement. However, we have been rebuffed or ignored each time. Unless each of the appealing class members withdraws his or her appeal, there is no way to shorten the judicial review process.

Haven’t you been paid? Class Counsel has not been paid. We are in the same position that you are in – we will not be paid until the appeals have been resolved. Prior Ask Elouise letters can be found on the settlement website: http://cobellsettlement.com/class/ask_elouise.php. There is also a “frequently asked questions” section to answer the most common questions received: http://cobellsettlement.com/press/faq.php.

Kind Regards,

Class Counsel Cobell v. Salazar

-Carolyn