TES COURT OF APPEALS 
OF COLUMBLA CIRCUIT 
Plaintiffs-Appellees, 
1 
) V. NOS. 03-5262,04-5084 
[Civil Action No. 96-1285 (D.D.C.)] GALE A. NORTON, 
Secretary of the Interior, et al., 
) 
1 Defendants-Appellants. 
EMERGENCY MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE APPEALS 
Appellants, the Secretary of the Interior, et al., have appealed from the district court's 
preliminary injunction of March 15, 2004 requiring agency-wide disconnection from the internet. 
The government is seeking an emergency stay of that order. In this motion, we ask that our appeal 
from the March 15 order be consolidated with our pending appeal from the July 28,2003 preliminary 
injunction that also requires internet disconnection. 
That appeal, docketed as No. 03-5262, is proceeding on an expedited schedule, under which 
the government's brief is due on April 6, 2004. The March 15 order purports to supersede and 
replace the previous preliminary injunction. Because the March 15 order addressed precisely the 
same subject matter as the July 28 order, and because the new order will pose significant and 
ongoing harm to the government and the public absent a stay, it is appropriate that the two appeals 
be consolidated and resolved at the earliest possible time.' 
'Plaintiffs' counsel has been given advance notice, by telephone, of the filing of this 
motion. 1. The pertinent background of the case is set forth in detail in our emergency stay motion 
filed in this Court together with the present consolidation motion. The underlying litigation involves 
a claim for an accounting of funds held in trust for the benefit of individual Indians. The case has 
previously been before this Court in Cobell v. Norton, 334 F.3d 1128 (D.C. Cir. 2003), and Cobell 
v. Norton, 240 F.3d 1081 (D.C. Cir. 2001 j. The government's appeal from a September 25,2003, 
"Stl-uciurai hj-unction" ~b - . pending in No. 03-5314. See also No. 03-5047 (mandamus petitions 
argued March 15, 2004); No. 03-5288 (mandamus petition to be argued April 8, 2004). 
2. At issue in No. 03-5262 is apreliminary injunction issued on July 28,2003, that requires 
the Department of Interior to disconnect from the Internet all computer systems housing or providing 
access to individual Indian trust data (IITD). Although the injunction purported to require immediate 
disconnection, it did not in fact do so. The injunction included a procedure that delayed its full 
impact. Interior was allowed to submit certifications showing that the systems still connected to the 
internet were either "essential for protection against fires or other threats to life or property" or that 
these systems either did not house or access IITD or were secure from Internet access by 
unauthorized users. With regard to the systems that were already disconnected, Interior was required 
to file proposals "setting forth a method of approving individual reconnections of disconnected 
Interior computer systems, and of determining whether the Reconnected Systems should stay 
reconnected." 
On August 11,2003, the Department of the Interior submitted certifications as required by 
this injunction, and later submitted a proposal for reconnecting systems that had previously been 
disconnected. 
- 2 - This Court has established an expedited briefing schedule in the governments appeal from 
the initial preliminary injunction, pursuant to which the governments opening brief is due on April 
6,2004. That appeal is proceeding on the same briefing schedule as the governments appeal, in No. 
03-53 14, from the stnictural injunction issued by the district court in September 2003. 
3. At issue in No. 04-5084 is a new preliminary injunction issued by the district court on 
March 15, 2004. L7 issuing that injumtion, the court rejected the certifications filed by the 
Department pursuant to the terms of the July 2003 order. On that basis, and despite the pendency 
of the governments appeal of the July 2003 preliminary injunction, the court radically modified its 
earlier order, requiring the Department immediately to disconnect the vast majority of its computers 
Because the March 15,2004 injunction requires immediate and across-the-board from the 
disconnection of thousands of Interior computers, the government has sought an emergency stay 
pending appeal. 
4. The two appeals involve identical subject matter. Indeed, the March 15, 2004 order 
purports to supersede and replace the July 2003 order. The governments appeal from the July 
28,2003 order cannot sensibly proceed without reference to the order that supersedes it. Equally 
clearly, the March 15 ruling warrants expedited review. Accordingly, the two appeals should be 
consolidated and briefing should proceed on the schedule already established in No. 03-5262. 
2The order allows the systems of the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and 
Office of Policy Management and Budget, to remain on-line. 
- 3 - CONCLUSION 
For the foregoing reasons, the appeals in Nos. 03-5262 and 04-5084 should be consolidated, 
and the two appeals should proceed on the briefing schedule already in existence for No. 03-5262. 
Respectfully submitted, 
PETER D. KEISLER 
Assistant Attorney General 
ROSCOE C. HOWARD, JR. 
United States Attorney 
ROBERT E. KOPP 
MARK B. STERN 
THOMASM.BONDY P&mz'Ll h, 
CHARLES SCARBOROUGH 
ALISA B. KLEIN 
(202) 5 14-5089 *L 
Attorneys, Appellate Staff 
Civil Division, Room 9108 
Department of Justice 
601 D Street, N.W. 
Washington. D.C. 20530 
MARCH 2004 
-4 - Earl Old Person (pro se) 
Blackfeet Tribe 
P.O. Box 850 
Browning, MT 59417 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
I hereby certify that on this 24th day of March, 2004, I caused copies of the foregoing motion 
to be sent to the Court and to the following by hand delivery: 
The Honorable Royce C. Lamberth 
United States District Court 
United States Courthouse 
Third and Constitution Ave., N.W. 
Washington, D.C. 20001 
Keith M. Harper 
Native American Rights Fund 
1712 N Street, N.W. 
Washington, D. C. 2003 6-2976 
(202) 785-4166 
and to the following by federal express, overnight mail: 
Elliott H. Levitas 
Law Office of Elliott H. Levitas 
1 100 Peachtree Street 
Suite 2800 
Atlanta, GA 30309-4530 
(404) 8 15-6450 
and to the following by regular, first class mail: 
Dennis Marc Gingold 
Law Office of Dennis Marc Gingold 
607 14th Street, N.W., Box 6 
Washington, D.C. 20005 
THOMAS M. BONDY- .5/