Wolfchild Class Action Lawsuit Information
The hearing is scheduled for December 5, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.
The courthouse is located at the following address:
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
717 Madison Place, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20439
The hearing is public. You are hereby invited.
Felix S. Cohen (1953)
Jon Brings Three White Horses (2006)
On May 21, 2008 the Court of Appeals issued an order which stated the following:
(1) The motion for leave to file a brief amicus curiae [friend of court] is granted.
(2) The moiton to withdraw as counsel is granted.
(3) The revised official caption is reflected above.
(4) The motion for an extension of time for the appellees to file their briefs is
granted. All appellees to file briefs due no later than June 27, 2008.
(5) The motion for an extension of time for the United States to file its reply brief is
granted.
(6) The motion for leave to exceed word limitation is denied.
April 11, 2008 -- U.S. Brief
May 26, 2008 -- Wolfchild Plaintiffs' Brief-Our Brief in the Appeal-Extended to June 27, 2008
August 30, 2008 -- U.S. Reply Brief
Only the April 11, 2008 date is confirmed due to the court's service rules. The other dates may change a few days either way and will in all probability be extended to some degree.
As the lower Federal Claims Court's proceedings are now stayed we will more than likely be in the Appellate Court for the duration of 2008. Assuming all goes well we will then begin to proceed to trial in 2009. Thus, you have the whole year of 2008, or what is left of it to continue to research your ancestral lines. Keep the faith and we will prevail, but you must be patient and understand that this case is complex and will take sometime to resolve. We also thank all of our clients that have been responsible and diligent in assisting with expenses and costs of the lawsuit.
We are now withdrawing from 254 clients, due to failure to assist in our expenses and costs associated with this lawsuit. We are saddened that those individual clients just do not understand the necessity of this assistance and it is not fair to those clients that diligently take their client responsiblities seriously and should not be required to make up the burden for those client that choose to be irresponsible and negligent. Those 254 clients and minor chldren are now free to retain other legal counsel to represent them in this matter.
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As mentioned at the Client meetings and through information posted on this website, the Government (Defendant) was allowed to appeal two issues to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That appeal was filed in October, 2007, and recently on December 10, 2007 the appeal was granted, which was one day after our client meetings in South Dakota.
This basically means that we are now in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to argue why the previously issued opinions and orders of Judge Lettow in the United States Court of Federal Claims was correct according to federal law.
The two (2) issues we will argue should be up-held:
(1) Whether a trust was created in connection with and as a consequence of the
1888, 1889, and 18890 Appropriation Acts for the benefit of the loyal Mdewakanton
and their lineal descendants, which trust included, land, improvements to land, and
monies; and
(2) If the Appropriation Acts created such a trust, whether Congress terminated that
trust with the enanctment of the 1980 Act.
This means a great deal of additional litigation time and resources, as we will be submitting additional legal briefs and traveling to Washington, D.C. at some point in the future to argue why Judge Lettow's opinions and orders should be up-held.
This also means that the claims of our clients may be in jeopardy of being overturned, or in other words if the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturns Judge Lettow's opinions and orders that indicate a trust was created and was breached by the subsequent 1980 Act - we will then have to appeal to a full panel of Judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and if they affirm or deny a request for rehearing we will then have to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.
This at best is a set back for our case and will delay a trial on the merits some where around one (1) year and maybe longer. If you have family members who have not submitted their packets be sure to have them get them in as soon as possible. Also if your line of ancestry is not as good as you would like it, utilize this time to research in the hope of discovering further documentation about your ancestry.
Be patient and keep the faith!!
1. COVER PAGE
COVER PAGE SHOULD SHOW THE NAME OF THE ADULT CLIENT AND AFFILLIATED MINORS.
Beneath the adult clients name should be their current address and contact
information.
A list of all minors with DOB(s)
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE: THE NAME OF THE MDEWAKANTON ANCESTOR THAT YOU ARE RELATED TO AND THEIR DOB AND DATE OF DEATH IF KNOWN
EXAMPLE
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CLIENT: JOHN DOE
444 1ST AVE
PIERRE, SD 57501
MINORS: JANE DOE DOB: 10/10/1999
JOHN DOE JR. DOB: 11/11/2003
MDEWAKANTON ANCESTOR: JOHN TRUDELL DOB______ DIED _______
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2. EACH PACKET SHALL CONTAIN A TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS SHOULD INCLUDE ALL RELEVENT DOCUMENTATION
COPIES OF ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES SHALL BE MANDATORY.
ANCESTOR DOCUMENTATION SHOULD BE COPY OF ORIGINAL IF AVAILABLE
OR CERTIFIED BY THE ORGANIZATION FROM WHICH THE DOCUMENTATION
WAS OBTAINED.
3. EACH PACKET SHALL CONTAIN A FAMILY TREE
SUBSEQUENT TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS SHOULD BE A FAMILY TREE, BIA
FAMILY TREES ARE PREFERRED, BUT ANY FAMILY TREE THAT CAN BE
SUBSTANTIATED BY LEGAL DOCUMENTATION WILL BE PERMITTED, UNLESS
OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY THE COURT.
4. SUB-SECTIONS OF DOCUMENTATION
THE SUBSEQUENT PAGES SHALL BE IDENTIFIED WITH A COVER SHEET
DIVIDING OR SEPARATING EACH DOCUMENT THAT SUBSTANTIATES OR
PROVES THE FAMILY TREE LISTINGS.
5. DOCUMENTATION OF ANCESTOR IN RELATION TO THE LISTS TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE COURT IN DETERMINING BENEFICIARIES
The following is from the opinion issued by the Court August 22, 2006
http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Lettow/06/LETTOW.WOLFCHILD-
CERMAK.082206.pdf
ON THE 1886, 1889 CENSUSES, OR OF A MDEWAKANTON INDIVIDUALS
RESIDING IN MINNESOTA OR REMOVING THERETO AT THE TIME OF THE
CENSUSES.
IF USING THE 1899 AND 1917-1924 MCLAUGHLIN ROLL AS SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTATION, REMEMBER THE ANCESTOR OR ANCESTORS MUST HAVE BEEN LOCATED IN MINNESOTA DURING A PERIOD OF TIME RELEVANT TO THE LISTS CONSIDERED BY THE COURT. EXAMPLE: MAY 1886 TO CIRCA 1905.
IF YOU ARE AN INTERVENING PLAINTIFF WHOSE ANCESTOR IS A
LOYAL MDEWAKANTON BUT NOT RELYING UPON INCLUSION IN THE 1886 OR
1889 CENSUS, INCLUDE IN THIS SECTION OF YOUR PACKET THE
DOCUMENTATION THAT PROVES FOR EXAMPLE: THE ELROD LIST OF
SCOUTS, SAMUEL BROWN’S LIST OF SCOUTS OR OTHER RECORD.
6. SUBMITTING PACKETS
IT IS SUGGESTED THAT EACH FAMILY ELECT A SPOKESPERSON TO ACT IN
THE CAPACITY OF A COLLECTION PERSON FOR ALL PACKETS TO REVIEW FOR
COMPLETENESS. PLEASE SEND IN ALL FAMLY PACKETS IN ONE BOX OR SEVERAL BOXES, IDENTIFING THE FAMILY ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX OR
BOXES AND THE COMMON ANCESTOR EACH DESCENDS FROM.
7. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT
SUBMITTED DOCUMENTS THAT ARE NOT IN A COMPLETED PACKET OR
RANDOM SUBMISSIONS OF BIRTH CERTIFICATES, ETC.
SHOULD YOU SEND IN RANDOM DOCUMENTS WE WILL ATTEMPT TO RETURN
THEM AND WILL CHARGE THE CLIENT MAILING COSTS.
ALL PACKETS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO OUR OFFICE BY JANUARY 30,
2007. HOWEVER, IF YOU NEED AN EXTENSION YOU MAY CONTACT US AND WE
WILL WORK WITH YOU TO MAKE A DETERMINATION OF A DATE THAT IS
APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR SITUATION.
ANY PACKETS THAT ARE SUBMITTED THAT ARE NOT COMPLETE AND MUST BE RETURNED TO THE CLIENT OR ARE LATE - THE CLIENT WILL BE CHARGED AN ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATION FEE OF $20.00 AND POSTAGE.
IF PACKET FEES ARE NOT PAID BY JULY 10, 2007, CLIENTS INFORMATION WILL NOT BE FORWARDED ON TO THE COURT AND THEIR NAMES MAY BE REMOVED, PURSUANT TO MOTION TO CORRECT REVISED THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT. IF YOU'RE NAME IS REMOVED AS AN INTERVENOR/PLAINTIFF YOU WILL HAVE TO RETAIN OTHER COUNSEL AND FILE A SEPARATE LAWSUIT.>/strong>
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*Clients are responsible to research their own individual ancestry, we have never indicated we will research on behalf of any clients.
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*Clients who have concerns or questions regarding this case should contact the office of Montana & Associates directly. Please keep in mind that our office represents over 4,000 clients on this case alone, thus, we receive a large volume of telephone calls and e-mails every day. All clients are equally important to our firm and we will try our best to respond to each and every communication in a timely fashion. Our telephone number is 715.597.6464 and e-mail address is lakotagm@yahoo.com.
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An additional $10.00 per adult client will be due by February 1, 2008, due to the extremely high cost of this litigation and expenses required to finance the case for all clients.