Friday, August 8, 2008

Judge Rules in Cobell Litigation :(

After twelve long years of seemingly endless litigation, DC District Court Judge James Robertson finally gave a monetary amount to the betrayal of the Individual Indian Money account holders who have lost by most honest assessments billions and billions of dollars in mismanaged trust funds. The number that the Judge settled on was $455,600,000.00 - not even close to one billion dollars and a fraction of what the plaintiffs were seeking ($47 billion dollars). Once again the federales have screwed the Native people of this land, many of whom have died during the last twelve years of drawn-out litigation while the government kept delaying hearings, requesting postponements and otherwise attempting to wear the plaintiffs down and drain their meager resources so that they would settle for an amount far lower than what the government knew that they owed. Elouise Cobell (the lead plaintiff in this class action lawsuit), not unexpectedly, disagrees with the ruling:
"I am disappointed, to say the least," said Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana. "We believe we presented a strong, compelling case that individual Indian trust beneficiaries are entitled to much more than the government's admitted mismanagement of our trust monies over the past 120 years."

Once again the federal government has failed to live up to its legal obligations as trustee for the Native beneficiaries in whose best interest it promised to act, and it has been exonerated by the courts of the same lying, cheating system for its failures.

If you would like to read the ruling that settled on the paltry amount that the government owes the Native people of this land, please click here.

If you'd like to see the complete history of this case, please visit Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kemthorne.

If you would like to read an interview by Amy Goodman of Elouise Cobell - see: Federal Judge Rules US Government Owes Group of Native Americans $455 Million for Unpaid Royalties on Drilling for Oil and Gas.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm outraged! Plaintiffs should have settled for the 7 billion. This is far from justice.

Anonymous said...

The "GOVERNMENT" once again has failed the Native Americans. What a shame.

Anonymous said...

I am a Native American beneficiary included in this case. The final decision is an insult to all of us. It upsets me that the government can get away with taking so much money away that was ours in the first place.
JP

Anonymous said...

It just figures that our people will be raped "again" by the Government!. But know God see's all and know's all and we will repeap our "reward"!!

Anonymous said...

i am pissed to the gills...where does it say a man can play God over the ruling regarding our lives..judge robertson,
your white american society ,,has once again screwed us and does so with a stupid smile and yes the attitude that you are holier than thou shows once again..
Sir you cannot brake our spirit down
and never will judge robertson.Judge lambert
might have lost some of his objectivity
but at least he used good sense,,unlike you..if it were your family..the outcome would have been for you..being it wasnt well youve made your government happy once again..judge robertson always remember sir ,what goes around comes around..you will get the rath of Creator-God,one day our day will come and we shall reclaim what is ours,squatter.we shall get to claim our land once again.Ours remember..Ours..
not yours...you shall never brake us sir,never.

Anonymous said...

from the day that i learned about this case, i knew not to get any hopes up.
i'm an enrolled member of the blackfeet tribe too...whether or not i'm a beneficiary is unknown to me.
but one thing is for certain.
i have never, and never will expected the government of the united states to "do what is right".
every year billions of dollars are sent over-seas to 3rd world countries, spent on military operations, other things/areas while people who live on the reservations have their own problems.

my friend pointed this case out to me years ago with wide eyes...said something like "hey, they're finally gonna pay you guys back".
i laughed and said, "don't count on it"

there is no way that this government (i'm not racist in either direction)..but there is no way this "white" governement would ever do anything to help native americans.

im sorry but it's how i feel.
after the court costs/legal fees/etc..im not sure how much of that settlement will be left to distribute.

good luck to all of you and remember....make your own future, don't count on something like the US gov't to bail you out.

-Michael

LINDA said...

MS. COBELL, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP IN TRYING TO SETTLE THIS CASE.
YOU ARE A GODSEND TO OUR PEOPLE. WITH AN APPEAL IN SIGHT, I AM WORRIED ABOUT TIME. THIS CASE HAS BEEN DRUG OUT FOR 12 YEARS AND I DON'T THINK WE CAN WAIT ANOTHER 12 YEARS FOR AN APPEAL. ALOT OF OUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED OUT ALREADY. MY MOTHER IS IN HER 70'S AND I WOULD LIKE FOR HER TO BE ABLE TO SEE THIS SETTLEMENT RESOLVED.

Anonymous said...

Allery (Little Shell Band) needless to say it happened again. I am ready to walk on Washington. To let them know we will divorce the BIA and run our own lives. The whole government can take their hands out of our pockets. And the people (Governement) who have jobs in the BIA and have lived like KINGS from our money will no longer be in charge of our leases or lives. We are not babies. We need to start taking our lands back and foreclose on the government for non-payment of property over 120 years. The government will have to foreclose and give back all they have taken.

Anonymous said...

You were expecting Justis from a bunch of thugs that have never once offered anything but grass in your mouth?