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Appeals court hearing Cobell disqualification dispute
Monday, March 15, 2004
A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments today on a motion to disqualify U.S.
District Judge Royce Lamberth and special master Alan Balaran from a
contempt-related proceeding in the Indian trust fund case.
Lamberth assigned Balaran to look into allegations that 29 current and
former government officials and lawyers destroyed e-mail records in violation of
court orders. The plaintiffs in the case say the group should be held in
contempt.
Some of the contemnors at the Department of Interior and Department of
Justice filed a motion to recuse Lamberth and Balaran. Lamberth, last January,
rejected the request.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the dispute at 2
p.m. Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg and Judges A. Raymond Randolph and Karen
Lecraft Henderson have been assigned to the matter. They were the judges who
threw out contempt charges against Secretary Gale Norton and former Indian
affairs aide Neal McCaleb.
Get the Order:
Cobell v.
Norton (February 27, 2004)
Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior -
http://www.doi.gov/indiantrustIndian
Trust: Cobell v. Norton -
http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice -
http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Related Stories:
Court
report blasts McCaleb for destroying records (01/27)
Court: McCaleb 'fabricated' e-mail
story (1/24)
Lamberth
tempted by disqualification campaign (01/21)
Martin read about deposition
online (12/23)
BIA aides
circumventing court (12/16)
Martin's role in incident surfaces
(12/16)
McCaleb to go
before investigator again (12/16)
McCaleb won't undergo more questioning
(12/17)
BIA aides e-mail use
prompts inquiry (12/17)
McCaleb aides circumventing court
(12/16)
Martin's role in
incident surfaces (12/16)
McCaleb to go before investigator
again (12/16)
Deposition
and hearing on trust fund (12/13)
McCaleb e-mail probe widens
(12/11)
McCaleb aide
ordered to testify (12/9)
McCaleb being deposed on e-mails
(12/6)
Interior's casualties
of war (11/25)
McCaleb
resigning from BIA (11/22)
17 months at arm's length (11/22)
Court cites 'troubling
record' at Interior (11/14)
McCaleb admits to e-mail
'misunderstanding' (10/23)
Interior admits to more destruction
of e-mails (10/22)
Probe
raises more questions than answers (08/07)
DOI investigation released (8/7)
No one to punish for destroyed
e-mails (4/10)
Request for
trust fund probe rejected (11/7)
Internal trust fund investigation sought
(8/22)
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