Denver, Colorado — August 3, 2021 — The Biden administration seems in no hurry to have the courts hear from white farmers and ranchers who were excluded from receiving post-pandemic farm loan forgiveness because of the color of their skin. And with good reason. Preliminary rulings suggest that their claims of equal protection rights violations have sufficient merit that they’ve stopped the controversial payouts in their tracks.
The administration suffered another legal setback Monday, when a judge denied the government’s request for a stay in Holman V. Vilsack, meaning the case can move forward. MSLF General Counsel William E. Trachman cheered the ruling as a victory for ranchers and farmers who were denied assistance and may be hanging on by their bootstraps due to the administration’s immoral and unconstitutional decision to turn this into another racial issue. MSLF is partnering with the Southeastern Liberty Foundation on the case.
“When it comes to race discrimination, justice can’t wait,” said Trachman. “The government hoped that it could put our equal protection rights on ice by trying to pause this case for what would have been years on end, and we’re pleased to see the federal government’s attempt to halt this case completely rejected by the judge. It’s time for the government to end its efforts to resegregate us by race. And we look forward to litigating this case to its conclusion.”
After the government lost on MSLF’s preliminary injunction motion last month, it decided to try to pause the case entirely, so that it could litigate another case in Texas, explained Trachman. Essentially, they wanted to pick off all of these cases one by one. “But on Monday the court handed the government another loss by emphatically rejecting the strategy,” he said.
Trachman said the Administration is trying something similar in a bid to delay justice in the Leisl Carpenter suit in Wyoming, which MSLF opposed in a filing earlier today. “Let’s hope the judge sees through it as well,” said Trachman.