Indian Farmer Claim could be moving towards a Resolution

Ken Thomas of the Associated Press has a story up on the ABC News website in which US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack essentially pledges to move forward with the discrimination lawsuit brought by Indian farmers and ranchers a decade ago. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Indian farmers and ranchers during a meeting Thursday that the department was "committed to resolving" litigation involving them.

The Indian farmers have been waiting to hear words to that extent since the class action lawsuit was filed in 1999; it was granted class-action status in 2001 and is named after Fort Yates, ND rancher George Keepseagle. The lawsuit claims the USDA “denied or delayed loans or failed to approve enough money for tribal farmers and ranchers.” The farmers and ranchers also claim “local USDA officials tried to squeeze them out of business by denying them loans that instead went to their white neighbors and by refusing to restructure loans in bad years as done for whites.”

The loans in question are administered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The agency is supposed to issue the loans to farmers and ranchers unable to get credit from commercial lenders. The plaintiffs in the suit are seeking $500 million in economic damages. The Indian farmers claim the discrimination in federal loans went on for over three decades. Today, “Justice Department spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said the case is expected to be consider[ed] again by the court early next year.”

Schwartz could not commit to whether or not the government will seek to settle with the Indian farmers and ranchers. For their part, the plaintiffs claim they are prepared and ready to go to trial. However, they are not against considering a settlement if the Obama administration offered one similar to the settlement reached between black farmers and the USDA during the Clinton administration in 1999. “The government has paid damages of $980 million in that case even as it has fought the Indian lawsuit in court.”

In addition to damages, the plaintiffs are also seeking to change the way USDA loan programs are administered, “as well as a moratorium on foreclosures against struggling Indian farmers and ranchers.” Following a meeting with the Obama administration and the tribal leaders that lasted all day, Vilsack said the USDA has realized that ‘“we, too, have litigation going on for a considerable period of time involving farmers and we’re committed to resolving this.”

To read the Thomas article click here.

Posted: 11/06/09