Court Appoints Monitor For Indian Trust Reform
Judge Acts on Report of ‘Imploding’ Overhaul
The Washington Post
By: Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
April 17, 2001
A federal judge yesterday named a court monitor to watch efforts by the Bush administration to reform a system of trust funds held for Native Americans, acting in the wake of a government memorandum that said the overhaul was “imploding.”
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered the step after a series of meetings with both sides involved in a lawsuit over billions of dollars in Indian trust funds. Lawyers for the Native American Rights Fund and the Interior Department supported the move in one of the few times they’re been in agreement during five years of litigation.
The monitor, Joseph S. Kieffer III, will assess the progress of trust reform activities and provide written reports to the court, Lamberth said at a hearing. Kieffer will have freedom to interview Interior Department employees and gather whatever information he deems necessary to prepare his periodic findings, Lamberth said.
“I think it’s a constructive move forward for both sides,” the judge said.
Interior had agreed to pay Kieffer’s compensation, at a rate of not less than $250 an hour, Lamberth said.
Kieffer most recently was managing director of Kroll Associates, a Chicago-based consulting firm, and led that firm’s investigation into the 1999 collapse of a bonfire stack at Texas A&M; University that killed 12 people. Among other management jobs, Kieffer is a former deputy general counsel and litigation director for the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, a $3 billion fund set up to handle asbestos-related claims.
In his new role, Kieffer will monitor the Interior Department’s efforts to modernize methods for keeping track of trust accounts covering at least 300,000 Indians. The accounts were set up more than 100 years ago to compensate Native Americans for use of their land. Royalties from the sale of petroleum, timber and other natural resources are channeled into the accounts, generating about $500 million a year.
Lawyers for the Native Americans contend that a minimum of $10 billion is owed because of years of mismanagement, shoddy record-keeping and neglect. Lamberth ordered the government to repair the system in a December 1999 ruling recently upheld by an appellate court.
The judge began pushing for an independent monitor after the government made public a Feb. 23 memo written by Dom Nessi, chief information officer at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Nessi wrote that a trust reform plan created by the Clinton administration in August 1998 was “slowly, but surely imploding” and “built on wishful thinking and rosy projections.” Nessi’s memo was written just before Special Trustee Tom Slonaker submitted a report to the court saying that substantial progress was being made.
Kieffer is the second outsider chosen by Lamberth to play a prominent role in the case, putting the Interior Department under an unusually high level of court oversight. Two years ago, Lamberth selected Alan L. Balaran to act as a special master with responsibility for overseeing the sharing of trust fund documents and other evidence.
In court yesterday, lawyers said they hoped Kieffer’s appointment would help speed the resolution of the lawsuit. The tone has grown increasingly contentious in recent weeks, with the plaintiffs alleging that Interior employees are afraid to speak out about problems because they fear retaliation. Last week, lawyers for the Native Americans sought to hold Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton in contempt of court for allegedly fostering “an atmosphere of intimidation.” Officials have denied the charges.
Lamberth praised Norton and the Indians for reaching a consensus on the need for a monitor. He said he was willing to give the Bush administration an opportunity to become familiar with issues raised by the suit, but not “unlimited time” to make changes.
In an interview after the hearing, Interior spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said officials “welcome the act of appointing an independent monitor. We believe that it will be constructive in helping the department to accomplish our goals, which are to advance the trust reform effort and to find solutions to the many complex problems.”
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