A federal appeals court struck down racist provisions in President Joe Biden’s partisan $1.9 trillion COVID-19 spending package that designated billions of priority financial aid to restaurants largely owned by minorities.
In the 2-1 ruling issued on Thursday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that showing favoritism to small restaurants at least “51 percent owned and controlled by women, veterans, or the ‘socially and economically disadvantaged” is a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause which prohibits states from making or enforcing laws that “abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
In the majority opinion, Judge Amul Thapar expressed concerns that the 21-day period slapped on the limited Small Business Administration money distribution did not offer equal opportunity to those hurt by government-mandated lockdowns including the plaintiff, Jake’s Bar and Grill which is owned by Antonio Vitolo, and his wife, who is Hispanic but did not qualify for the financial handout.
