“If this opinion was fair, I'd like to be out of court, but we certainly can't let a decision like this stand,” said Cobell, a national community development expert from the Blackfeet Reservation. “It's factually and legally wrong so we have to challenge it. We're ready to go the long haul to make sure we have fairness to all the plaintiffs.”
On Aug. 7, U.S. District Judge James Robertson issued a final ruling in the 12-year-old case, Cobell vs. Interior, awarding $455.6 million judgment to Native landowners who have thousands of Individual Indian Money accounts managed by the Interior Department.
Cobell filed suit in 1996 with the hope of receiving an historical accounting from the Interior Department, which has been responsible for collecting money earned from natural resources on more than 11 million of acres of Indian land. Lawyers for Cobell argued that upward of $47 billion had not been collected or properly distributed to landowners.
In deciding the final settlement amount, Robertson asked Cobell's lawyers to prove how the government had benefited from using - and not distributing - Native landowner money. In their appeal, lawyers for Cobell are arguing the judge did not have jurisdiction to determine the federal benefits.
The lawyers are also disputing the court's decision to exclude valuable mineral payments involving the Osage Nation in Oklahoma.
The judge's $455.6 million settlement will not be distributed until the appeals process is complete. The appeal could take more than a year.
If they choose, Interior Department lawyers could also file an appeal, questioning whether Robertson had jurisdiction to award the landowners any money at all.
Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net.
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