Judge James Robertson’s ruling on the Cobell class-action lawsuit was released on Jan. 30, 2008. He found that the completion of the required historical accounting — an effort by the Department of the Interior to determine “all funds held in trust by the United States for the benefit of an … individual Indian”— is an “impossible task.”

The judge recognized the work of federal employees when he wrote, “Interior’s 2007 plan reflects the efforts of dedicated public servants to do the impossible.” He also noted that Interior deserves credit for trying to find “a balance between exactitude and cost.”

The complete ruling is available on the U.S. Department of Justice website at www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell.