Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
MSLF Communications Dept.
Stanton Skerjanec & Carina Constancio
(303)-292-2021
MSLF FILES SUPREME COURT CERT PETITION TO RULE ON GOVERNMENT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
MSLF asked the Supreme Court of the United States to rule whether the case of Carpenter v. Vilsack is moot. We contend that the government illegally distributed relief funds based on race and that the courts must correct the violation of the Equal Protection Clause
Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) and our partners at Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States earlier this week, asking the high court to decide whether the case of Carpenter v. Vilsack is moot, or if there is still justice to be done for MSLF client Leisl Carpenter.
In 2021, the Biden Administration signed the massive American Rescue Plan Act, which included $4 billion in COVID-19 relief for “socially disadvantaged” farmers and ranchers. But, in violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the Fifth Amendment, the debt relief program excluded Caucasian farmers and ranchers, such as Leisl.
The Constitution forbids the federal government from discriminating against any citizen because of their race. The Supreme Court recently upheld this core principle of our nation in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, where the Court said, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”
Thanks to Mountain States’ and SLF’s rapid litigation response, the courts halted the discriminatory debt relief program. In late 2022, the Biden Administration threw in the towel by signing another law that repealed the program altogether. This was a victory for equality under the law for all Americans.
Unfortunately, before the courts halted the program, the federal government succeeded in distributing some funds according to the race-based rules. The money spent in this way represents a violation of the principle of equality under the law that the Constitution protects. Though the program was ended, Mountain States continues the fight to seek justice for the illegally distributed funds.
We cannot allow the government to begin racial programs, give out taxpayer dollars, and then call it water under the bridge once the courts halt racially discriminatory programs. Rewarding the government by letting the case drop simply incentivizes future constitutional violations. It is for this reason Leisl Carpenter, Mountain States, and SLF have pressed our case all the way to the Supreme Court. We argue that the issue is not moot and still relevant, and we ask the Court to require the lower courts to decide the case’s merits.
Americans are entitled to equality under the law and our Constitution. We will continue to fight for this principle in every case as long as the government continues to violate our rights.
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Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) is a nonprofit, public-interest legal foundation established in 1977. MSLF’s mission is to protect and restore those rights enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of America, through pro bono litigation. MSLF protects individual liberty, the right to own and use property, the principles of limited and ethical government, and the benefits of the free enterprise system.
This story was first featured in the Washington Examiner.
The Cowboy State Daily also featured Leisl’s case.