Pigford, Timothy v. Johanns, Michael

The history of this litigation bears witness to the many obstacles to relief for the class of African American farmers covered by a consent decree based on their allegations of unlawful racial discrimination by the United States Department of Agriculture in administering its farm loan programs. The task has not been easy for a number of reasons, including the complications necessarily associated with ensuring relief to eligible class members and the deficiencies of class counsel, as determined by the district court. While the district court’s efforts so far have ensured that only a small…