IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
____________________________________
) 
ELOUISE PEPION COBELL, et al., ) 
Plaintiffs, 
v. 
GALE A. NORTON, Secretary of 
the Interior, et al., 
) 
) 
)
)
)
)
) No. 1:96CV01285 
(Judge Lamberth) 
Defendants. 
)
) 
DEFENDANTS’ REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY STATUS CONFERENCE 
Defendants respectfully request an emergency status conference on the record. Such a 
conference is necessary as soon as possible to clarify the scope of the Court's September 29, 
2004 Order. Officials at the Department of the Interior have attempted to determine the effect 
of the Order on the agency's operations and have issued the attached Notice to Interior 
employees in an attempt to ensure compliance with the Order. See Exhibit 1. However, 
Defendants require guidance from the Court to ensure that their interpretation of the Order is 
correct. Accordingly, Defendants request that the Court schedule an emergency status 
conference to be held on the record at the Court's earliest convenience. 
Respectfully submitted, Dated: September 30, 2004 
ROBERT D. McCALLUM, JR. 
Associate Attorney General 
PETER D. KEISLER 
Assistant Attorney General 
STUART E. SCHIFFER 
Deputy Assistant Attorney General 
J. CHRISTOPHER KOHN 
Director /s/ Sandra P. Spooner 
SANDRA P. SPOONER 
D.C. Bar No. 261495 
Deputy Director 
JOHN T. STEMPLEWICZ 
Senior Trial Counsel 
CYNTHIA L. ALEXANDER 
Trial Attorney 
Commercial Litigation Branch 
Civil Division 
P.O. Box 875 
Ben Franklin Station 
Washington, D.C. 20044-0875 
(202) 514-7194 
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NOTICE 
To: Agents, Representatives, Employees, Officers and Counsel of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior Involved with Indian Trust Matters 
Re: Communications with Class Members in Cobell v. Norton 
Attached is an order issued September 29, 2004 by Judge Lamberth in the Cobell 
case concerning communications by Interior agents, representatives, employees, officers 
and counsel with members of the Cobell class. Please read this Notice and the Order 
carefully and govern yourselves accordingly. It is imperative that you immediately 
cease making any communications prohibited by the Order until you receive further 
instructions. Failure to do so could place you andor the Secretary and the Assistant 
Secretary for Indian Affairs in contempt of court. 
The Order states, in part, as follows: 
ORDERED that . . .. During the pendency of the instant litigation, the parties to 
the litigation, their agents, representatives, employees, officials, and counsel shall 
not communicate, through the United States mail or any other mode of 
communication, with any member of the plaintiff class in this litigation regarding 
the sale, exchange, transfer, or conversion of any Indian trust land unless such 
communication is conspicuously marked with a notice that has been previously 
submitted to and approved by this Court. 
ORDERED that henceforth, communications beween the Interior defendants, 
their agents, representatives, employees, officers and counsel and members of the 
plaintiff class may proceed only if a Court-approved version of the above- described notice is conspicuously displayed on such communications and then 
only between the Interior defendants, their agents, representatives, officers and 
counsel and plaintiffs’ counsel unless the class member with whom 
communication has been sought has waived h ~ s or her right to consult class 
counsel, in which case communication may proceed between the Interior 
defendants, their agents, representatives, employees, officers, and counsel and the 
individual class member. 
Until further notice, do not communicate with any class members regarding the 
following: 
I . “the sale, exchange, transfer, or conversion of any Indian trust land;” 
2. encumbrances, leasing, lease sales, permitting, rizhts-of-way, and timber sales 
of or on individually-owned Indian trust land; 
3. the investment of trust funds in IIM accounts; 
4. estate planning, will drafting and the probate of or relating to Indian trust 
assets; 
5 . the surveying or appraisal of trust assets; 
6. title to trust lands; 
7. ownership of trust funds or lands; and 
8. physical improvements or alterations of trust assets. 
We plan to work with the Court and the plaintiffs to seek further clarification of 
this Order. This dialogue may result in additional instructions that modify this topical list presented above. As further information regarding this Order becomes available, we will 
infoim you. 
Until further notice, the persons with whom the above-described communications 
are prohibited should be considered to include present or former holders of IIM accounts. 
However, communications with Interior employees in the course of their employment, 
even if they are class members, are not prohibited. 
Although the Order provides that communications can occur once appropriate 
notice and waiver procedures are established, please be aware that such procedures have 
not yet been established and therefore all communications described in this Notice are 
prohibited. The Department will inform you if and when the required notice is approved 
by the Court and will instruct you at that time how individual class members may waive 
their right to consult with class counsel, if they so choose. In the meantime, as noted 
above, you must not make any prohibited communications to a present or former holder 
of an IIhl account. If you have questions about this Mtice, please contact either Rachel 
Spector ((202) 208-6029) or Kaniah Konkoly-Thege ((202) 208-5 134). 
Please direct class members to contact their class counsel to discuss these matters: 
Dennis Gingold - (202) 824-1448 
Keith Harper - (202) 785-4166 
Elliot Levitas - (202) 508-58 15 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
I hereby certify that, on September 30, 2004, the foregoing Defendants’ Request for 
Emergency Status Conference was served by Electronic Case Filing, and on the following who 
is not registered for Electronic Case Filing, by facsimile: 
Earl Old Person (Pro se) 
Blackfeet Tribe 
P.O. Box 850 
Browning, MT 59417 
Fax (406) 338-7530 
/s/ Marcia K. McCarthy 
Marcia K. McCarthy 
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