A North Florida farmer is challenging a financial aid program for minority farmers that became law this year, saying it’s unconstitutional because it freezes out struggling white farmers.
Scott Wynn from Jennings — about 90 minutes west of Jacksonville in Hamilton County — sued U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Jacksonville’s federal court Tuesday over a loan-forgiveness program that was folded into the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
The lawsuit says the program for “socially disadvantaged” farmers uses race as a standard for getting financial help, whether the farmer who’s applying is financially strained or not.
“Granting or denying farmers loan forgiveness based on their race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment,” Wen Fa, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Wynn, said in emailed remarks. “The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that government cannot use race as a factor, except in narrow cases of remedying past discrimination.”