Keepseagle v. Vilsack

Settlement in Indian Farmers Case May Be Close

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Law.com:

The Justice Department is nearing a comprehensive class settlement with a class of Native American farmers who filed a discrimination suit against the federal government in 1999.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs and DOJ attorneys met for a status conference this week in Washington federal district court. A lead plaintiffs’ attorney, Joseph Sellers of Washington’s Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, said a settlement is close.

Neither side in the dispute discussed the terms of the proposed settlement in court and Sellers declined to provide specifics about the deal-in-progress after the hearing. He said the settlement, which could impact tens of thousands of farmers, would not require congressional authorization. The suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture was filed in 1999 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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Keepseagle Settlement Deadline Extended

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From BLT:

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan yesterday agreed to continue a delay in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit by Native American farmers and ranchers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to allow more time for settlement negotiations.

“At the request of the USDA, the plaintiffs agreed to request a brief additional stay of the litigation in the hope that the additional time will permit the parties to make real progress in establishing a basis for settlement,” said lead counsel Joseph Sellers, partner in Washington’s Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.

Sullivan extended the settlement negotiation to May 26, with a status report due on May 20.

In their motion to the court, Sellers and Department of Justice attorneys said, “The length of this stay is reasonable in light of the many considerations involved in settling a class action lawsuit of this size and scope.”

The class action, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in November 1999. The suit accuses the Agriculture department of denying thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers the same opportunity to obtain farm loans that it routinely gave to white farmers. The discrimination allegedly caused the loss of billions of dollars in credit over a 25-year period. The suit also charges the department with failure to accept and investigate many civil rights complaints filed by those farmers and ranchers.

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Keepseagle Settlement Deadline May Soon Pass

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Law.com:

By Marcia Coyle

The clock is ticking on negotiations to settle another mammoth discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this one brought by Native American farmers and ranchers.

The class action, filed in Washington, D.C., federal court in November 1999, accuses the department of denying thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers the same opportunity to obtain farm loans that it routinely gave to white farmers. The discrimination allegedly caused the loss of billions of dollars in credit over a 25-year period. The suit also charges the department with failure to accept and investigate many civil rights complaints filed by those farmers and ranchers.

This past December, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asked the plaintiffs in Keepseagle v. Vilsack to join the department in seeking a stay of the class action in order to focus on settlement negotiations. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia agreed to halt the litigation for 60 days. Although that initial stay expired in mid-February, the parties won another stay, which runs out April 21.

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Keepseagle Motion for Certification of Damages

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is an interesting tidbit from the American Indian farmer discrimination case — Keepseagle Motion for Certification of Damages

USDA Discrimination against Native Farmers Press Release

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Native American Leaders Call on the Obama Administration to End Decades of USDA Discrimination Against Native American Farmers &  Ranchers

Native American leaders and lawyers representing thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers in a 10-year-old nationwide class action lawsuit (Keepseagle v. Vilsack) against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will urge President Obama and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to make long-overdue changes to the USDA’s discriminatory lending practices and call upon the new Administration to settle the Keepseagle case.

After a panel discussion and a press availability that are open to the media from 1:30 to 3:30 pm, hundreds of Keepseagle class members will meet with their attorneys, Joseph Sellers and Sarah Vogel at the Bismarck Civic Center.  These events will take place in conjunction with the 40th Annual United Tribes International Powwow and the United Tribes Tribal Leaders Summit, which thousands of Native Americans will attend.

A new expert report will be released that finds since 1981 Native American farmers and ranchers received only half the loans they were qualified to receive, when compared to other farmers.  This disparity confirms the accounts of thousands of Native Americans who have been the subject of a longstanding pattern of discrimination by USDA, which denied them $3 billion in credit, resulting in nearly $1 billion in damages.

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