President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has won the support of a group that advocates for social justice for 17,000 black farmers.
The Memphis, Tenn.-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, which has fought racial discrimination, especially by the federal government, cited a case Kavanaugh decided for black farmers last October.
The group’s president, Thomas Burrell, and its ecumenical advisor Bishop David Allen Hall, praised the federal appeals court judge and said that he would be an “excellent” addition to the Supreme Court.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and provided to Secrets, the two wrote, “During Judge Kavanaugh’s tenure, he was prepared, attentive and had command of the facts. If confirmed, these are the traits that Judge Brett Kavanaugh would bring to the bench as an associate justice.”
The letter, seen below, added, “In October of 2017 Judge Kavanaugh rendered a decision in favor of black farmers on the merits of the evidence. We know all too well the challenges and inequalities the black farmers and 1890 Land Grant Universities still face today. Black farmers are entrepreneurs and we, like other black owned businesses, still face a lack of access to capital and markets.”
That month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied an Agriculture Department’s move to block discrimination payments to some 15,000 black farmers and their heirs.
