============================================================ FREE CONFERENCE CALL SERVICE Full-Featured & Easy to Use No Gimmick! The Best is FREE! http://click.topica.com/caaadPEb1ddNBb2HgmNb/Teleconferencecalls.com ============================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 30, 2001 www.indiantrust.com JUDGE ANGRILY TELLS JUSTICE and INTERIOR TO GET READY FOR CONTEMPT IN COBELL CASE �If Norton Is in Charge of Trust Reform, She Sure Doesn�t Act Like It� WASHINGTON, D.C. � A federal judge today leveled sharp criticism at Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Justice and Interior officials and lawyers for their conduct in the Cobell individual Indian trust litigation, and ordered government lawyers to be ready by Nov. 30 to start defending against likely contempt findings for Norton and a roster of other senior officials for ignoring court orders on trust reform. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth also set a Nov. 15 deadline for filing of court papers by a new team of government lawyers appearing for the first time in the case, hastily put in place after Justice abruptly yanked attorneys from the Environment and Natural Resources Division off the case last week. Lamberth denied their request for a 45-day delay. �I hope when the government files [on Nov. 15], they�ll tell me who�s in charge of trust reform,� Lamberth said. �Allegedly it�s the Secretary, but she sure doesn�t act like it.� Lamberth cited a series of reports by a Court Monitor he appointed that show repeated lies to the Court by Interior officials about their progress on trust reform. In one instance, he said, Anne Shields, Interior chief of staff in the Clinton administration, ordered officials not to inform Lamberth that a highly touted new trust computer system did not work. �That fact alone is so contemptuous of this Court,� the judge said. Lamberth also singled out Norton for adopting, as one of her first actions as Secretary, a statistical sampling scheme devised by former Secretary Bruce Babbitt. She did it �in absolute violation of my order,� said Lamberth. �Her first action was so contemptuous, I don�t know what we�re going to try [in a contempt trial].� The judge went on to criticize Norton for the latest in a series of court-ordered quarterly reports, which Interior filed report a month late after several Interior officials refused to swear to its veracity. "What was she [Norton] doing? What was she thinking?" Lamberth said. Norton and Shields are among 50 or more Interior and Justice officials and attorneys cited by the Cobell plaintiffs for potential contempt findings by the judge. A parade of defense lawyers, hired by many of the defendants and paid for by the government, attended today's hearing in U.S. District Court. Dennis Gingold, the lead plaintiffs� attorney, urged Lamberth not to grant the government�s requested delay, to proceed with contempt and to begin immediately to place the Indian trust in the hands of a receiver. Trust reform has been an �abject failure,� Gingold said. �There is shame on the Department of the Interior. There is shame on the Department of Justice. There is shame on the Department of the Treasury.� The condition of the trust, he added, �is worse today than it was on June 10, 1996,� when the original Cobell complaint was filed. Gingold also noted that lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, who was seated at the plaintiffs� table in the courtroom, had traveled 2,500 miles, from her home in Montana, to attend today�s hearing. Meanwhile, said Gingold, �not one of the defendants could take their limousines across town for five minutes to show that they take this case seriously.� For more information, go to www.indiantrust.com. ##### |
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
============================================================ NEW FAT-FLUSHING SYSTEM SPEEDS POUNDS OFF!! Dr. N. Gornakova M.D., created a brand new high power weight loss system that whisks away fat and repairs metabolism damaged by previous diets. Doctors recommend and use it themselves. Lose 6 to 8 lbs each week permanently! "This is going to be big," say experts. http://click.topica.com/caaadZzb1ddNBb2HgmNg/
Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html
==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddNB.b2HgmN Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
