IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) ELOUISE PEPION COBELL, eta!., ) ) P!aintiffs, ) ) Civi! Action No. 96-1285 (RCL) v. ) ) DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary of ) the Interior, eta!., ) ) Defendants. ) ___________________________________________________________________________) DEFENDANTS' OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO STRIKE DEFENDANTS' RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFFS' OPPOSITION TO MOTION TO COMPEL ATTORNEYS TO SIGN STATEMENT OF NON-PARTY OR RELEASE EDDIE JACOBS AND ORDER RECONCILIATION AND REIMBURSEMENT Defendants respecifitily oppose P!aintiffs' motion to strike Defendants' response to P!aintiffs' opposition to the August 30, 2006 fi!ing of Mr. Eddie Jacobs (Dkt. No. 3265) (fi!ed Oct. 2, 2006). P!aintiffs offer three arguments. These arguments are without merit and shou!d be rejected. P!aintiffs argue that our fi!ing is "unauthorized and untime!y." P!aintiffs assert that our response cou!d be viewed as an untime!y opposition to Mr. Jacobs' motion. Defendants' submission was not, however, an opposition to Mr. Jacobs' ! ! motion, but a response to P!aintiffs' September 15, 2006 fi!ing (Dkt. No. 3261) (fi!ed Sept. 15, 2006). Thus, it was time!y. Defendants were not ob!iged to oppose Mr. Jacobs' motion because it is undisputed that Mr. Jacobs is a member of the p!aintiffc!ass represented by p!aintiffs' counse!, and not an individua! named party. ! Cobe!! v. Norton, 407 F. Supp.2d 140, 148 (D.D.C. 2005). Further, on September 2, 2003, the Court denied Mr. Jacobs' request for amicus status. Order, Sept. 2, 2003, Dkt. No. 2666. Thus, Mr. Jacobs' inabi!ity to seek re!ief from the Government in this case outside of the relief sought by the plaintiff class is settled. Plaintiffs alternatively assert that Defendants' response must be stricken because it constitutes an unauthorized "putative Reply." Our response was not a reply filed under LcvR 7(d). Defendants were not the "moving party" as that term is used in LcvR 7(d), and did not proceed under it. Moreover, as a party in this case, Defendants must be allowed to respond to any potentially prejudicial allegations made by the opposing party. Finally, plaintiffs argue that Defendants' response should be stricken under Rule 12ffl because it is "immaterial," "impertinent," and "scandalous." The response is clearly none of those things, and plaintiffs' motion does not demonstrate any basis for finding that our response meets Rule 12ffl standards. Contrary to plaintiffs' assertions, it is not false or misleading. It only conveys facts to apprise the Court more fully of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Jacobs' request, and concisely notes allegations in Plaintiffs' opposition that are misleading or not factually supported. For these reasons, the motion to strike should be denied.1 1 Unrelated to their motion to strike, Plaintiffs assert that Defendants do not deny that Ross Swimmer and Donna Erwin "engaged in explicitly prohibited class communications." This is false. We clearly denied Plaintiffs' allegations. We stated that the fact that "Mr. Jacobs has persisted in attempting to bring his claims to the attention of Mr. Swimmer and others presents no reasonable basis to raise the specter of a violation of any communications order in this case." Resp. at 5. We also stated, "No reasonable basis exists to conclude that Mr. Jacobs was faced with a 'threat' to have his historical accounting handled differently than any of the other Cobell class members," and offered to provide further information regarding this matter should the Court deem it necessary. Resp. at 4, 5 n.2. Significantly, even Plaintiffs' counsel concede that they are "unable to confirm that he [Mr. Jacobsi, in fact, had been threatened by Special Trustee Ross Swimmer, and Deputy Special Trustee Donna Erwin, that no accounting would be rendered although they proceed to treat that assertion as fact. See Resp. at 4. -2- Dated: October 6, 2006 Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General STUART E. SCHIFFER Deputy Assistant Attorney General J. CHRISTOPHER KOHN Dire ctor /s/ Robert E. Kirschman, Jr. ROBERT E. KIRSCHMAN, JR. (D.C. Bar No. 406635) Assistant Director Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division P.O. Box 875 Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044-0875 Telephone: (202) 307-0494 Facsimile: (202) 514-7162 -3- CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certif!y that, on October 6, 2006 the foregoing Defendants' Opposition to P1aint!ffs 'Motion to Strike Defendants ' Response to Plaint4ffs' Opposition to Motion to Compel Attorneys to Sign Statement of Non-P arty or Release Eddie Jacobs and Order Reconciliation and Reimbursement 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/ Kevin P. Kingston Kevin P. Kingston