Most Black farmers got nothing in USDA suit

An analysis of the landmark 1999 settlement between black farmers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that 87 percent of 94,000 farmers who sought restitution have had their claims denied. A new report also cites detailed billing statements that indicate the Justice Department spent 55,712 staff hours contesting the farmers' claims, most of them after the settlement was entered into under Clinton administration Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. More than half the hours were run up since February 2001, after the Bush administration's Justice Department took the case. "USDA really vigorously fought these claims, bearing all the resources of the Department of Justice on individual farmers who were just trying to be processed through the settlement that the USDA agreed to," [more]

• Deadline approaching in Black farmer's lawsuit settlement [more]