End is Near for Cobell v. Kempthorne update

[mdenney]

Cobell v. Kempthorne, et al

Hello all I been in contact with the attorneys of Cobell v. Kempthorne.

This is a copy of what they sent me ok .

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Dear Mr. Denney,



Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Indian Trust Settlement.



On August 20, 2012, Kimberly Craven filed a petition for writ of certiorari, and on September 19, 2012, Carol Eve Good Bear, Mary Aurelia Johns, and Charles Colombe, filed a petition for writ of certiorari. On October 29, 2012, the Supreme Court posted its decision to deny Ms. Craven’s petition and will not hear this case. Good Bear, et al. have dismissed with prejudice their Supreme Court petition in return for Class Counsel’s agreement to pay their attorney’s fees and expenses out of attorney’s fees that Class Counsel expects to receive. A stipulation of dismissal was filed with Supreme Court on November 6, and the Supreme Court officially dismissed their petition on November 7.



Once the Attorney General has certified that the case is final, and an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury has certified proper access to the Judgment Fund to make payments, Final Approval of the Settlement will be effective. Final determination will then be made as to Class Membership in the Historical Accounting Class.



Class Counsel anticipates that payments to the Historical Accounting Class will commence before December 25, 2012. At this time, we do not know when payments to the Trust Accounting Class will commence.





If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.





Best Regards,



Indian Trust Claims Administrators

[mdenney]

Cobell settlement checks could arrive before Christmas


November 27, 2012 11:34 am • By Andrea J. Cook Rapid City Journal(0) CommentsThe wait is nearly over for thousands of Native Americans in the Dakotas and across the nation who will land a share of the Cobell Settlement, as the first $1,000 payments from the $1.5 billion reserved for land trust beneficiaries could be sent to area Native Americans before Christmas.

After nearly 17 years of courtroom arguments, congressional negotiations and Indian Country bickering, hundreds of thousands of Native Americans could see the first payments from an overall $3.4 billion U.S. government settlement by the end of the year, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday.

The settlement between Native Americans across the nation and the government over more than a century’s worth of squandered and mismanaged land trust royalties became final on Friday, when the appeal period expired.

One of the largest U.S. government settlements in history began with a lawsuit filed in 1996 by Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont. The Blackfeet woman observed that those who leased Indian land made money from its natural resources, while the Natives themselves remained in poverty with no accounting of the royalties from that land that were held in trust for them by the government

Cobell led the fight against the government for more than 15 years before she died of cancer last year.

About 350,000 beneficiaries could start receiving $1,000 checks by Christmas as the first part of the settlement goes forward, plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

“It’s possible. It requires the engagement and full cooperation of the government,” Washington, D.C. attorney Dennis M. Gingold told the Journal on Monday. Gingold is the lead counsel in the class action lawsuit. The money couldn’t come at a better time, he said.

“There are people who are desperate out there,” Gingold said. He said he talks daily with trust beneficiaries.

“Many people don’t fully appreciate, especially in the Dakotas, how difficult the winters are,” the attorney said. “Some people don’t even have $20 to fill a propane tank to heat their homes, so if this money can go out, it can help a lot of people.”

A total of between $105 million and $115 million dollars will go to individual trust beneficiaries in South Dakota; in North Dakota, between $65 million and $75 million will be paid to beneficiaries, Gingold and his staff accountant said.

Wanblee resident Phyllis Wilcox already knows where the money will go when it arrives.

“Mine will go to car repairs,” Wilcox said, adding that she has several grandchildren who will also receive checks at some point.

Tribal governments do not share in the settlement that specifically addresses the government’s handling of land held in trust for individual tribal members.

The agreement will pay out $1.5 billion to two classes of beneficiaries. Each member of the first class would be paid $1,000. Each member of the second class would be paid $800 plus a share of the balance of the settlement funds as calculated by a formula based on the activity in their trust accounts.

The distribution of the $3.4 billion settlement cleared a final hurdle Monday when attorneys for the settlement’s final challenger, Kimberly Craven of Colorado, notified Gingold and others case that they were not appealing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear their client’s settlement appeal.

“We didn’t know until this afternoon when Craven’s attorney confirmed she did not file,” Gingold said Monday afternoon.

President Barack Obama welcomed the final approval of the Cobell settlement. It clears the way for reconciliation between trust beneficiaries and the federal government, he said.

Obama also remembered Cobell, who died of cancer in October of 2011.

“While Elouise Cobell, the named plaintiff in this case is no longer with us, her legacy will be a renewed commitment to our trust relationship with Indian Country,” Obama said. “I thank her for her honorable work, and also want to thank the leaders at the Departments of the Interior, Justice and Treasury who helped reach this conclusion.”

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the final approval of the Cobell settlement Monday afternoon and outlined the steps ahead that will lead to the distribution of $1.5 billion to almost 500,000 trust beneficiaries whose land was mismanaged.

The settlement also creates a $1.9 billion fund for the voluntary consolidation of trust land where the ownership has been fractured as land was passed from generation to generation. Up to $60 million of the fund can be used to provide scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives to attend college or vocation school.

The will also be a second distribution of funds to anyone who has received even $1 in income from trust land perhaps within the next 10 months, Gingold said. “That person will get at least an additional $800.”

Individual tribal members with trust accounts had until the end of October to update their information with the Department of Interior.

The funds could be transferred from the government to a J.P. Morgan settlement account within two weeks, according to Gingold. Attorney General Eric Holder has to first certify the settlement, he said. That could happen at any time.

The Department of Interior is supplying the names and addresses of qualifying tribal members. The last known address for trust beneficiaries will be used. As long as that information is complete and accurate, the checks can go out within a week of the money’s arrival at J.P. Morgan, Gingold said.

If all goes as planned, the money should be out before Christmas, Gingold said.

“I believe Secretary Salizar when he says the want to hit the ground running,” Gingold said. “So, if we keep our fingers crossed, people can have a nice little Christmas.”

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from link below -


rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/communities/chadron/cobell-settlement-checks-could-arrive-before-christmas/article_ff9a34cc-38c0-11e2-a188-0019bb2963f4.html