Mountain States Legal Foundation has always taken a stand against government overreach. The purpose of doing so has never been to just stop the government—it has been and always will be about justice and the preservation of liberty. Sometimes, that requires bold action even when the government says that it’s halted its misconduct. In Laramie, Wyoming, that’s exactly what we did yesterday before the federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Injustice and Swift Action
In March 2021, Congress enacted a $1.9 trillion spending package called the American Rescue Plan Act. Among other provisions, it included Section 1005, which forgave certain debts incurred by farmers and ranchers, but only for some. The statute contained a glaring issue—a discriminatory practice that flew in the face of our Constitution’s core principles The program operated on the premise that one’s race should determine their eligibility for COVID-19 debt relief. Of the eligible classes of farmers and ranchers who qualified for assistance, white farmers and ranchers were excluded.
Mountain States immediately got to work, challenging this unconstitutional discrimination. We secured a nationwide injunction to halt the program, an important victory for equal protection under the law.
In August 2022, because of the injunction, the Biden Administration pulled the plug on the program, effectively admitting defeat. The problem, however, wasn’t just future injuries; it was about the payments that went out the door before the program was repealed.
Unfinished Work
Before the injunction and ultimate termination of the program, the federal government distributed loans according to the unlawful race-based rules. That is, before the courts halted the program, the Biden Administration discriminated against some farmers and ranchers in favor of others, on the basis of race. The very fact that happened means there is more work to be done than just ending the program. That work requires forcing the government to make things equal.
We still need to hold the government accountable. Otherwise, the government would learn exactly the wrong lesson: do as much unconstitutional conduct as possible, and then just repeal the statute once the litigation starts going south.
Pursuing justice is about restoring balance, fairness, and the integrity of our legal system. It has nothing to do with retribution. Instead, this case is about saying that, regardless of our personal backgrounds, we are all equal before the law, and we should be treated as such. It’s about reinforcing the notion that justice is blind to the color of one’s skin. It’s also about accountability. If we allow past government actions that violated the Constitution to go unaddressed, we set a dangerous precedent.
Imagine a world where government officials, unfazed by the repercussions of their actions, continue to launch similar discriminatory programs or worse, distribute taxpayer dollars along racially biased lines, and then shrug their shoulders when legal challenges arise. That’s not a future we should accept. It’s a precedent that erodes the very foundations of our republic.
Principle of Justice
By continuing the legal battle at the appellate court, Mountain States seeks to not only address past injustices, but also to send a clear message to those in positions of power: discrimination has consequences. We are fighting for a future where the government cannot evade responsibility for its actions, where accountability is the norm, and where justice is consistently upheld.