Latinos farmers trying to sue USDA

NPR reports on an important story of discrimination that has not gotten much press: "In Texas and across the Southwest, Hispanic farmers have been fighting the Agriculture Department for close to a decade. The farmers say the department's Farm Services Agency discriminated against them — denying or delaying loans, and refusing to investigate when they cried foul. The government settled a similar complaint brought by African-American farmers for $1 billion. And while the claims of discrimination and other factors are almost identical, the Hispanic farmers have gotten nothing." (emphasis added).

For civil procedure buffs, the story is especially interesting because an important part of the Department of Agriculture's refusal to settle with the Hispanic farmers as a group turns on the denial of class certification of the Hispanic farmers. see Garcia v. Johanns, 444 F.3d 625 (D.C. Cir. 2006), a decision of which they are seeking review in the U.S. Supreme Court; Black farmers had obtained certification of a class and the discrimination claims were resolved on a class-wide basis. Given the court decision not to certify the class, the U.S. government has taken the position that it will settle the claims individually but not as a whole.

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MENENDEZ ON USDA DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HISPANIC FARMERS: NEED FOR LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT IS A MATTER OF FAIRNESS AND COMMON SENSE
Video of Menendez’s floor statement in the Senate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7q055renrI

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) yesterday stood on the Senate floor to urge the Administration to provide a settlement in the USDA discrimination lawsuit brought by Hispanic Farmers. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) stood in support of the farmers:

“Decades of indifference and discrimination in lending practices at the United States Department of Agriculture have made it difficult for minority farmers – specifically Hispanic farmers -- to make a living at what they love to do – leaving many no choice but to leave the farms and ranches they have tended all their lives.”

“These hard-working farmers, Hispanic families -- who bought a piece of land – built a family farm -- their small piece of the American dream – were wrongly denied loans and other benefits in violation of the Equal Opportunity Act by county committees that review Farm Service Administration credit and loan applications for approval..”

“Consequently, these farmers filed suit in the hope that it would change the discriminatory practices at the USDA – how it treated America’s minority farmers -- but under the Bush Administration nothing changed…”

Earlier this year $1.25 billion was allocated in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget to settle similar outstanding lawsuits by African American farmers in the Pigford v Glickman suit. Earlier this year, in letter to the president (http://menendez.senate.gov/pdf/06202009USDAHispanicFarmersLetter.pdf , eight Senators reminded President Obama that the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 calls on the administration to resolve outstanding discrimination lawsuits against the USDA brought by Hispanic and other farmers in an expeditious and just manner.

The video of Senator Menendez’s remarks on the Senate floor are available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7q055renrI