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Oregon wants to deny $62 million in COVID relief to residents who aren't black, sparking a lawsuit
Just the News ^ | December 14, 2020 - | Carrie Sheffield

Posted on 12/17/2020 7:31:33 PM PST by george76

“It violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution that requires that people who are similarly situated be treated similarly," says James Huffman, professor and dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School.

A lawsuit alleges the Oregon Legislature Emergency Board acted unconstitutionally when it declared that $62 million of a $200 million government fund to help small businesses hit by COVID-19 could only go to black-owned businesses or black families.

Maria Garcia, owner of the Revolucion Coffee House in Portland, applied for some of that $62 million allotment, called the Oregon Cares Fund, but was denied because she doesn’t “identify as Black.” Under the program, black families are reportedly eligible for up to $3,000 and black-owned businesses for up to $100,000 in government funds.

She was reportedly denied relief because her business “does not meet the criteria because 0% of its owners identify as Black,” prompting Garcia to sue in federal court, arguing the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause has been violated.

James Huffman, professor and dean emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School, told Just the News he has communicated with Garcia’s attorney about the case, and Huffman wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed supporting Garcia titled “Oregon’s Segregated Covid Relief Fund Is Blatantly Unconstitutional.”

Huffman joined Just the News AM program on Friday to discuss the case.

“It violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution that requires that people who are similarly situated be treated similarly,” Huffman said. “And she is clearly similarly-situated to a black-owned restaurant. She has her own coffee house, and she's been denied denied funds explicitly because she does not qualify as black.”

Huffman said while Oregon has a compelling interest to end any state discrimination against black Americans, he said the Oregon Cares Fund has not proven that all blacks and black businesses have been discriminated against by the state, especially relative to businesses owned by people of other races.

“I think there are important things that we can do and should do to correct for past discrimination,” Huffman said. “But I think the problem here is that the law is very clear, under the constitution, that you can't treat one person differently from another, unless they are different in reasons relevant to the government program. So, I certainly think it's easy for her to be portrayed as anti-black, but she certainly is not, she's just saying that because her business is in the same position as others affected by the COVID virus, she should be as entitled to these funds as anybody else.”

Huffman said the Supreme Court “has been very clear” in the context of school admissions and employment regarding affirmative action: “affirmative action steps are allowed, they're permitted, but you cannot have quotas, and that's the core problem with this,” he said. “This is clearly a quota, it's $62 million out of $200 million, that are available only for one group of people. So I think that's where the law really stumbles.”

Huffman said his reading of case law suggests that using more discrimination to try to rectify past discrimination is not constitutional.

“As Chief Justice Roberts said in a case, a couple of years ago, the way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. so I think the state simply has to figure out ways to help the people who need help,”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: oregon
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1 posted on 12/17/2020 7:31:33 PM PST by george76
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To: george76

I guess we can lay to rest the white supremacy crap.


2 posted on 12/17/2020 7:33:21 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.....)
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To: george76

Probably perfectly OK with the Supreme Chickens, somebody might riot........


3 posted on 12/17/2020 7:35:25 PM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents|Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: george76

Cuomo is pulling the same cr** in NYS. Of course we want it to be equitable...but lets not put race as a factor. Maybe blacks shouldn’t have protested so much. Fauci refused to condemn the “crowded” protests...but condemned every group meet by the President.


4 posted on 12/17/2020 7:47:13 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: george76

***Lewis & Clark Law School***

Shouldn’t the school name be changed to YORK school since he was the slave(Body servant) of Clark? Betcha we can find he probably saw the Pacific first!

Sarc/off


5 posted on 12/17/2020 7:49:31 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: george76

You can’t make this stuff up! I had to check to see if it was by the Babylon Bee.


6 posted on 12/17/2020 7:55:13 PM PST by Maudeen (GOD DOESN'T NEED OUR PRAYERS. WE NEED OUR PRAYERS.)
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To: george76

[Oregon wants to deny $62 million in COVID relief to residents who aren’t black]

That’s racist!


7 posted on 12/17/2020 8:02:06 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: george76

Oregon has turned out to be a total cesspool, turned that way by libtards. Everything they touch turns to excrement. I’ve heard it’s very pretty out there, which makes it even a bigger shame.


8 posted on 12/17/2020 8:03:43 PM PST by EinNYC
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To: Maudeen
Maria Garcia, owner of the Revolucion Coffee House in Portland, needs to duke it out with her fellow Portlanders....she's 'a Social Activist' who ran for Commissioner for Multnomah County in 2018...Born and raised in in Mexico City...an immigrant who came here as a teen mother.


9 posted on 12/17/2020 8:22:48 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: metmom
She opposes President Trump (he's not my president).....

from her face book page...Also supports BLM..and ACLU


10 posted on 12/17/2020 8:30:39 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: george76

Oregon is 1.8% black about 75,000 people


11 posted on 12/17/2020 8:49:38 PM PST by joshua c (President Elect joshua_c. Hey if Joe can do it.)
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To: george76

Leftists can not even please leftists.


12 posted on 12/17/2020 8:52:35 PM PST by Midwesterner53
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To: george76

Oh “identify” as black, not actually BE black. I can identify as black to take money from people who are Communist, racist, stupid and ignorant.


13 posted on 12/17/2020 8:59:06 PM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: george76

l8r


14 posted on 12/17/2020 9:13:59 PM PST by preacher ( Journalism no longer reports news, they use news to shape our society.)
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To: joshua c

Probably the least Black state in America. Except for Maine?


15 posted on 12/17/2020 9:15:44 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: george76

Covid....the latest excuse for wealth redistribution


16 posted on 12/17/2020 9:15:46 PM PST by Magnum44 (My comprehensive terrorism plan: Hunt them down and kill them.)
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To: george76

Does that include the ones that “ain’t black” because they didn’t vote for Biden?


17 posted on 12/17/2020 9:16:54 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: joshua c

I agree with you...it’s a very small number of blacks in the state. Most are in the highly urbanized areas around Portland/Eugene. In the eastern half of the state, I doubt if you can find more than 2,000. This 62-million dollar package will mostly just sit there and barely be used, if you label it a black-only fund. Maybe that was the intent....let it sit there for a year, and 60-million still left at that point, spent on activist projects.


18 posted on 12/17/2020 9:53:00 PM PST by pepsionice
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To: george76

Again I say. WHO CARES WHAT THE LAW SAYS!? The law means nothing. 62 million for blacks in Oregon? There are only about 70,000 black Oregonians.


19 posted on 12/17/2020 10:53:30 PM PST by Organic Panic (Flinging poo is not a valid argument)
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To: george76

democrat politicians are simply racist.

JoMa


20 posted on 12/18/2020 4:00:35 AM PST by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks, and have the will to use them.)
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