Judge Wants to Resolve Indian Lands Case
Topics in Legal News 2008/03/06 09:59
A federal judge says he wants to resolve a 12-year lawsuit over government mismanagement of Indian lands this June.
In a decision last month, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said government accounting for billions of dollars owed to Indian landholders has been "unreasonably delayed" and is ultimately impossible.
At the same time, Robertson said the task is not hopeless, and he asked lawyers for both sides to lay out their cases again at a status hearing on Wednesday.
The June trial "is meant to bring this matter to a conclusion," Robertson said.
The suit, first filed in 1996 by Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell, claims the government has mismanaged more than $100 billion in royalties held in trust from Indian lands dating back to 1887.
