Black farmer files judicial complaint against federal judge

(Owensboro, KY) September 24, 2007 Harry Young, a black farmer from Owensboro, Kentucky has upped the ante in his quest to regain possession of his farm and overturn what many farm activists claim was an illegal auction. Young has filed a complaint against the Western District of US Court in Owensboro, in the 6th Circuit of the US Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

The farm has been in the Young family since the late 19th century and contains valuable mineral rights--at least $18 million dollars worth of coal reserves. A major point of contention is whether those reserves were included in the $500,000 sale of the farm. Young says that he has been denied access to documents which would verify whether these valuable reserves were included in the half a million dollar sale.

Filing for himself in a pro se argument, Young's complaint says: "It is the purpose of the ancient institution of property to protect those claims which people rely in their daily lives, and this reliance must not be arbitrarily undermined; it is a purpose of the constitutional right to a hearing, protected by procedural due proces, to provide an opportunity for a person to vindicate those claims. (Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 US ]564, 92 s Ct 2701 33 Led 2d 548)

Among other items, Young's Affidavit, claims:
1. His constitutional rights were arbitrarily undermined
2. The complainant could have demonstrated that the defendant (FSA) had used the court to illegally acquire the Young property
3. That the complainant's could have demonstrated he paid off the Agency 21 years ago
4. That the mineral's beneath the complainant's property are valued at a minimum of $18 million

Harry Young is 80 years old. His father farmed that land. As did his grandfather. His 300 acre farm is a family legacy. Young says he filed a complaint against the Court to "make this complaint for my own sake, but also to stand up for the rule of law and the procedural due process rights of my children and grandchildren."

Young and others are closely watching the currently political gymnastics of Presidential contenders in both the Democrat and Republican parties. they say too much land has been lost by both black and white farmers in corrupt land deals and they want the practice stopped.