Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

Case: Carpenter v. Vilsack

0:21-cv-00103 | U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming

Filed Date: May 24, 2021

Case Ongoing

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Case Summary

This case is one of several lawsuits challenging the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) classification of “socially disadvantaged groups.” Section 1005 of the ARP allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Farms Services Agency (FSA) to forgive previously given loans to farmers of “socially disadvantaged groups.” That category is defined elsewhere to mean people who have been "subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their…

The plaintiff, a white rancher from southeast Colorado, filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming on May 24, 2021. The case was assigned to District Judge Nancy D Freudenthal. The plaintiff allege that Section 1005's categorization of socially disadvantaged groups prevented her from receiving a government benefit because of her race and thus was a racial classification that violated her Equal Protection rights. Represented by attorneys from the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the Southeastern Legal Foundation, and a private law firm, she asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, attorneys' fees, and nominal damages of one dollar.

On August 16, 2021, the district court stayed this case pending the resolution of Miller v. Vilsack, another challenge to the same program being litigated in the Northern District of Texas. In that case, the court had enjoined the implementation of Section 1005 and certified a class of farmers who would have received benefits if not for the provision's socially disadvantaged groups category.

The case is ongoing.

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Summary Authors

Jonah Hudson-Erdman (11/14/2021)

People

Judge(s)

Freudenthal, Nancy Dell (Wyoming)

Rankin, Kelly H. (Wyoming)

Attorneys(s) for Plaintiff

Bartkus, Corey Christopher (Colorado)

Boucek, Braden H (Georgia)

Hermann, Kimberly S. (Georgia)

Stubson, Timothy Michael (Wyoming)

Trachman, William Edward (Colorado)

Attorneys(s) for Defendant

Newton, Emily Sue (District of Columbia)

Snow, Kyla (District of Columbia)

Vassallo, Nicholas (Wyoming)