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’ OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL 
REGARDING THE NOTICE OF DEPOSITION OF JAMES CASON AND 
RELATED REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS 
On October 29, 2003, Plaintiffs noticed the deposition of James Cason, the Associate 
Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior (“Notice of Deposition”). The Notice of 
Deposition included two requests for production of documents. Defendants filed a Motion for 
Protective Order Regarding the Notice of Deposition and Request for Documents on November 
26, 2003.1 Plaintiffs filed a consolidated Opposition and Motion to Compel on December 10, 
2003.2 For the reasons set forth in Defendants’ Motion for Protective Order, and Defendants’ 
1/ Because the Motion for Protective Order was not granted before the time under Federal Rule of 
Civil Procedure 34(b) to respond to the document requests expired, on December 1, 2003, 
Defendants served Responses and Objections to Plaintiffs’ Request for Production of Documents 
Attached to the Notice of Deposition of James Cason (attached as Exhibit 1). 
2/ Plaintiffs filed an unopposed Notice of Withdrawal of the Motion to Compel on December 16, 
2003, accompanied by a proposed order. Because this proposed order has not yet been entered, 
Defendants are filing this Opposition to the Motion to Compel. If the Court orders the 
withdrawal of Plaintiffs’ Motion, this Opposition obviously becomes moot.
Reply in Support of the Motion for Protective Order, filed concurrently with this Opposition, 
which are incorporated here by reference, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel should be denied.3 
Respectfully submitted, Dated: December 18, 2003 
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 S. Spooner 
SANDRA P. SPOONER 
D.C. Bar No. 261495 
Deputy Director 
JOHN T. STEMPLEWICZ 
Senior Trial Counsel 
Commercial Litigation Branch 
Civil Division 
P.O. Box 875 
Ben Franklin Station 
Washington, D.C. 20044-0875 
(202) 514-7194 
3/ In addition, any motion to compel “must include a certification that the movant has in good 
faith conferred or attempted to confer with the person or party failing to make the discovery in an 
effort to secure the information or material without court action.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(2)(B). 
Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel does not include this required certification and also does not 
comply with Local Rule 7(m). 
2
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
I hereby certify that, on December 18, 2003 the foregoing Defendants’ Opposition to 
Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Regarding the Notice of Deposition of James Cason and Related 
Request for Production of Documents 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
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
ELOUISE PEPION COBELL, et al., ) 
Plaintiffs, 
v. Case No. 1:96CV01285 
(Judge Lamberth) 
)
)
)
)
) 
GALE NORTON, Secretary of the Interior, et al., ) 
Defendants. 
)
) 
__________________________________________) 
ORDER 
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Regarding Plaintiffs’ 
Notice of Deposition of James Cason And Request For Production of Documents (Dkt. # 2422). 
Upon consideration of the Motion, the responses thereto, and the record in this case, it is hereby 
ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion is DENIED; it is further 
ORDERED that the Plaintiffs are precluded from deposing James Cason at this time; 
ORDERED that Defendants need not respond to the document production requests 
included with the notice of deposition of Mr. Cason; 
SO ORDERED. 
Date: _________ 
ROYCE C. LAMBERTH 
United States District Judge
cc: 
Sandra P. Spooner 
John T. Stemplewicz 
Commercial Litigation Branch 
Civil Division 
P.O. Box 875 
Ben Franklin Station 
Washington, D.C. 20044-0875 
Fax (202) 514-9163 
Dennis M Gingold, Esq. 
Mark Kester Brown, Esq. 
607 - 14th Street, NW, Box 6 
Washington, DC 20005 
Fax (202) 318-2372 
Keith Harper, Esq. 
Richard A. Guest, Esq. 
Native American Rights Fund 
1712 N Street, NW 
Washington, D.C. 20036-2976 
Fax (202) 822-0068 
Elliott Levitas, Esq. 
1100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2800 
Atlanta, GA 30309-4530 
Earl Old Person (Pro se) 
Blackfeet Tribe 
P.O. Box 850 
Browning, MT 59417 
(406) 338-7530