Fact Check: Faust's lawsuit follows a 2021 ruling against race discrimination in farmer aid.

Fact Check: "Faust's lawsuit follows a 2021 ruling against race discrimination in farmer aid."

What We Know

Adam Faust, a dairy farmer from Wisconsin, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), claiming that he faced discrimination due to programs that favor women and farmers of color. This lawsuit is backed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a conservative law firm. The suit alleges that certain USDA programs, including the Dairy Margin Coverage program and farm loan guarantee programs, provide benefits based on race and sex, which Faust argues is unconstitutional (source-1).

Faust's current lawsuit builds on a previous case in 2021, where he was part of a successful challenge against a USDA program that offered loan forgiveness exclusively to "socially disadvantaged" farmers, which a federal judge ruled as unconstitutional race discrimination (source-2). This earlier ruling led to the suspension of the loan forgiveness program initiated under the Biden administration (source-4).

Analysis

The claim that Faust's current lawsuit follows a 2021 ruling against race discrimination in farmer aid is substantiated by the facts surrounding both lawsuits. In the 2021 case, the court ruled that the USDA's loan forgiveness program discriminated against white farmers, which aligns with Faust's current allegations that similar programs continue to discriminate based on race and sex (source-3).

The reliability of the sources is generally high, as they include reports from established news organizations like PBS and Wisconsin Public Radio, as well as legal documents from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. However, it is important to note that WILL has a specific ideological stance, which may influence its framing of the issues (source-6).

Critics of the lawsuit, including agricultural advocates, argue that the programs in question are necessary to address historical inequities in farming and do not detract from the opportunities available to white farmers (source-1). This highlights a broader debate on the balance between affirmative action and equal treatment under the law.

Conclusion

The verdict on the claim that "Faust's lawsuit follows a 2021 ruling against race discrimination in farmer aid" is True. The evidence clearly shows that Faust's current legal action is indeed a continuation of the legal challenges he has previously engaged in regarding race-based discrimination in USDA programs. The history of the 2021 ruling provides a solid foundation for understanding the context and motivations behind the current lawsuit.

Sources

1. Lawsuit says USDA can't waive fees, offer better rates to farmers based on race or sex
2. Wisconsin dairy farmer sues Trump administration alleging racial discrimination against white farmers
3. United States District Court
4. Dairy farmer sues Trump administration alleging race and sex discrimination as he sues the USDA
5. Faust v. Vilsack
6. Why a white American farmer is suing the Trump administration over farm aid
7. Wis. Dairy Alleges USDA Discrimination
8. Litigation Update: Faust v. Vilsack - Race Discrimination in the American Rescue Plan