Columbus, OH – On Thursday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Holman v. Vilsack with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit calling on the court to protect access to America’s legal system as Congress intended when it passed the 1980 Equal Access to Justice Act.

“While awarding attorneys’ fees may seem esoteric, clients with limited financial resources often bring important cases to defend our constitutional rights,” said David C. Tryon, the director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “And Congress intended the awarding of attorneys’ fees to create incentives for lawyers to represent clients, like Mr. Holman, in cases to vindicate our essential rights.” 

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute called on the full Sixth Circuit to reconsider a ruling by a three-judge panel that denied Mr. Holman his attorneys’ fees—in violation of the Equal Access to Justice Act—after he won a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s discriminatory farm loan forgiveness program that based eligibility for loan forgiveness solely on a farmers’ race. 

After winning a preliminary injunction against the discriminatory program, Congress changed the law to eliminate the race requirement, a second win for Mr. Holman. Despite these victories and the clear intention of the Equal Access to Justice Act—which “authorizes the award of attorney’s fees and other expenses to certain individuals, small businesses, and other entities who prevail against the federal government in judicial proceedings…”—the three-judge panel denied Mr. Holman’s request for attorneys’ fees.

Mountain States Legal Foundation and Southeastern Legal Foundation represent Mr. Holman in the case.

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