federal trust breach – Page 5

Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Sand Creek Massacre Trust Claims

December 23, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Flute v. United States.

An excerpt:

This case arises out of an ignominious event in the history of this Nation. In 1864, the United States Army conducted an unprovoked attack on a group of unarmed Indians, who had relocated to an area next to the Sand Creek River in the Territory of Colorado at the direction and under the protection of the Territorial Governor. When what has become known as the Sand Creek Massacre was over, most of the Indians were dead, including many women and children. After an investigation, the United States publicly acknowledged its role in the tragedy and agreed to pay reparations to certain survivors of the massacre. But those reparations were never paid.

Plaintiffs are descendants of the victims of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and bring this action for an accounting of the amounts they allege the U.S. government holds in trust for payment of reparations to their ancestors. Because the United States has not waived its sovereign immunity, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of such for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Briefs here.

Federal Court Orders Interior/Justice to Redo Discovery in Trust Breach Suit; Too “Document Dump”-Like

October 21, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order in Goodeagle v. United States (Fed. Cl.):

106 Motion for Discovery Relief

109 Opposition

112 Reply

116 DCT Order

We’ve posted on Goodeagle here and here.

Quapaw Tribe Prevails in Series of Trust Breach Claims against US

October 2, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Quapaw Tribe v. United States (Fed. Cl.):

83 Quapaw Motion for Partial Summary J

92 US Opposition

99 Quapaw Reply

119 DCT Order

An excerpt:

This case involves the claims of the Quapaw Indian Tribe of Oklahoma for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of trust obligations. On April 6, 2015, the Quapaw Tribe filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the following three grounds: (1) that the Government is liable for annual educational payments of $1,000 from 1932 to the present under the Treaty of 1833; (2) that the Government is liable for $31,680.80 in unauthorized disbursements from the Quapaw Tribe’s trust accounts, as found in the 1995 Tribal Trust Funds Reconciliation Project Report prepared by Arthur Andersen LLP; and (3) that the Government is liable for $70,330.71 in transactions that should have been credited to the Quapaw Tribe’s trust accounts but were not, as reported in the 2010 Quapaw Analysis.

Federal Court Dismisses Claim against Utah Police for Shooting Indian Man

August 3, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Jones v. United States (Fed. Cl.):

20 US Motion to Dismiss

23 Response

28 US Reply

59 DCT Order

Goodeagle Plaintiffs May Sue for Pre-1994 IIM Trust Account Breach

July 31, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Goodeagle v. United States (Fed. Cl.):

90-1 US Motion for Partial Summary J

94 Goodeagle Cross Motion

96 US Reply

97 Goodeagle Reply

103 DCT Order

Wyandot Nation v. United States Breach of Trust Complaint re: Huron Indian Cemetery

June 3, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Wyandot Nation of Kansas v. United States (Fed. Cl.):

1 Complaint

Quapaw Partially Prevails in Dispute over Undistributed Indian Claims Commission Judgment Funds

April 20, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma v. United States (Fed. Cl.):

59 US Motion for Partial Summary J

66 Quapaw Cross-Motion

70 US Reply

72 Quapaw Reply

87 DCT Order

An excerpt:

In deciding the cross-motions for partial summary judgment on this issue, the Court considered at least two factors. Foremost, the Court notes that fact discovery was still ongoing in this case when the motions were filed. As of March 31, 2015, the Government anticipated producing over 452,000 document images to Plaintiff before the close of fact discovery on April 16,2015. Gov.’s Status Report, Dkt. No. 81, at 5. The Court declines to draw evidentiary conclusions when material facts are in dispute and ongoing discovery may yet shed more light on the issues. Second, the Court must consider the parties’ respective burdens. To prevail at the summary judgment stage, Plaintiff must sufficiently allege a breach of trust by the Government through affirmative evidence of nonpayment so that the finder of fact could not reasonably rule in favor of the Government. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249–50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Court finds that the Government’s evidence of accounting records and meeting minutes sufficiently rebuts Plaintiff’s argument so as to create a continuing and genuine dispute. On the other hand, the Government has not convinced the Court that records of emptied Treasury accounts and presumptions of regularity are sufficient to decide this issue. Plaintiff’s evidence of meeting minutes and the conclusions of the Quapaw Analysis satisfy the Court, again, that the issue is in genuine dispute. Therefore, the Court denies both motions for partial summary judgment on the question of whether the Tribe is entitled to recover some or all of the trust funds.

We posted earlier on this matter here.