Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Judge condemns Interior Department as a callous and clueless agency

Judge condemns Interior Department as a callous and clueless agency

Jul 12, 2005 - 23:16:03 CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Interior Department was ordered Tuesday -- by a judge who called it a "pathetic outpost" -- to admit it can't provide accurate information about lost royalties owed to American Indians.

In a scathing condemnation of the government's treatment of American Indians, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth directed the department to enclose notices in its correspondence saying information provided on trust assets may not be credible.

Interior officials called Lamberth's language "intemperate rhetoric uncommon to jurisprudence but made common in this case."

The notices also are meant to alert people that they may be members of the class-action lawsuit brought by lead plaintiff Eloise Cobell in 1996 on behalf of more than 300,000 American Indians. Under Lamberth's order, the notices must say: "Evidence introduced in the Cobell case shows that any information related to (American Indian trust accounts) ... from the Department of the Interior may be unreliable."

Lamberth has been locked in a nine-year battle with Interior -- both Secretary Gale Norton and her Clinton administration predecessor, Bruce Babbitt -- over the department's inability to come up with an accurate accounting of what American Indians are owed. The judge has held both administrators in contempt of court.

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Comments

Stacy wrote on Apr 28, 2008 10:53 PM:

" Do you know if employment records from the 20's for this institution still exist? On the 1920 census records I found a relative of mine working there in laundry ironing clothes. "

Angie wrote on Oct 31, 2007 12:41 PM:

" Do you think there might be a connection of the beating death and assult of Pat Stein, from John Leftbear, to the boy they found Russell D. Turcotte, 19, of Wolf Point? It was only a few years apart and they both happened in or around Devil's Lake. "

get his butt !!!!!!! wrote on Jan 10, 2007 11:07 AM:

" tired of hearing about these punk butt men raping, torturing, and even killing our children....she was only 15 and no one cared...no parents, police,.no one...GLAD i don't live in THAT county "

huh? wrote on Oct 4, 2006 1:24 PM:

" I would like to read comments on Joseph Edward Duncan, not random comments that don't related to the subject of the article. What gives? Have these 3 decided to just jump in randomly or were their comments misdirected to the wrong article????? "

DEAR WEBMASTER!!! wrote on Sep 19, 2006 9:02 PM:

" None of the comments on ANY of the pages follow the story. Go crunch some code, Buddy! FIX IT PLEASE. "

Max wrote on Aug 22, 2006 8:41 PM:

" Who owns the natural gas processing plants and who are the main shareholders. Gov. Hoeven stated in 2004 that Tesoro should get 1 million for nothing. Tesoro CEO had just cashed in 5% of his shares of stock for 25 million and bought back 870 million in bonds and that was when oil was $40 a a barrel he now owns about 1 billion at $70 a barrel I would imagine. The gas refinerys cut production 10% in Feb and early again this spring because their was a surplus on hand because Americans had driven less. This is price fixing as far as I am concern. The Tribune still has not asked about the 5 major oil companies that were being investigated for price fixing. Major natural gas storage operators Duke Energy Corp., El Paso Corp., CenterPoint Energy Inc. and ONEOK Inc. told the Wall Street Journal they had received subpoenas from investigators. Several other companies have not received them but are assisting with the investigation. Is this the 2000-2004 rebate we got back from MDU? Did we only get paid for 1 year like other states instead of 4 years refunds? MDU was vague on how we got over charged. Oil and Gas gave 50 million and was the largest contributor to Repulicans campaings. Is this pay for the 1 million Mr. Hoeven received from the Bush Rove campaign committee in 2000? "

Ken Helegeson wrote on Jun 23, 2006 8:34 AM:

" as a past "small" operator in the 70's and 80's and finally becoming a 0 operator in the 90's by FSA standards I come to realize that the CRP programs has taken away "true" land use for what it was and now pays farmers to short change animal producers from grazing land that is only good for goats, sheep or limited number of cattle nontheless it is grzing and Uncle pays farmers to cash in on land that only reall yproduces meat, thus nationally denying the general public from having their tax dollars put to better use. I think Congress needs to redifine farmable acres and give the meat producers their land back and save some money "

Tim Griffin Jr. wrote on May 18, 2006 10:03 AM:

" They need to free Peltier. He didn't do it. Government just wants to put some blame on someone and they chose Peltier. Free him! Free him! "

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