Court OKs plan for $380M in Native American farmer lawsuit

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Blake Nicholson, Associated Press

Updated 3:20 pm, Tuesday, May 16, 2017


BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An appeals court panel on Tuesday approved a lower court's plan for distributing $380 million left over from the U.S. government's loan discrimination settlement with American Indian farmers and ranchers six years ago.

The decision wasn't unanimous, however, with one of the three judges arguing that Congress should have had a say.

President Barack Obama's administration agreed in 2011 to pay $680 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in 1999 by Indian farmers who said they were denied loans for decades because of government discrimination. The lead plaintiffs were George and Marilyn Keepseagle, ranchers on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

Only about half of the 10,000 expected claims came in. In April 2016, a judge approved a plan for the leftover money devised by the two sides in the lawsuit that included an additional payment of $21,275 to each claimant and about $300 million to groups that help Indians.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Court-OKs-plan-for-380M-in-Native-American-11150519.php

[Equinox Moon]

1. Thanks for the post!

[BumRushDaShow]

2. This was also tied to Pigford II

(Black Farmers case for the same reason - USDA farm loan discrimination) where Coburn delayed the Pigford funding for 6 months (refusing to allow the unanimous consent) while they worked out pay-fors, and while he wanted Pigford to be linked to this case.

The Native Americans have a long road to go if the same sort of nonsense happens.

[rwsanders]

3. Makes me wonder if anyone ever saw a dime from the settlement where the Bureau of Indian Affairs...

never passed through the money from oil and mining leases.

Best thing would actually have been to use the money to buy out and return more land to the tribes. They seem far more interested in caring for it and restoring the ecosystem than anyone else.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. That has been the problem

Folks will file suit, the courts will work out the settlement with the feds, Congress will agree to budget for the settlement via legislation, but then when it comes to actually appropriating funds, that funding legislation (which has to be separate from the budget line) gets stalled, and no payout happens, and it gets "forgotten".