Jump to full article: Newport News (VA) Daily Press, 2006-09-29
Author: SUE LINDSEY Associated Press Writer
Intro: A federal judge in Abingdon has dismissed a lawsuit by two southwest Virginia farmers that accused the U.S. Department of Agriculture of illegally slashing the growers' tobacco-buyout payments.
U.S. District Judge Samuel G. Wilson wrote Thursday that the two burley-tobacco growers lacked standing to bring the suit because they had entered into contracts with the Agriculture Department. Even if they had standing, Wilson said, they would not be entitled to relief.
William J. Neese and Daniel M. Johnson contended in their lawsuit, filed in September 2005, that Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns overstepped his authority by deviating from a formula set by Congress that allocates payments under the $10 billion buyout of tobacco quotas.
The farmers said the agency replaced a simple calculation approved by Congress with a complex formula that cuts payments to many farmers. . . .
Philip Morris USA had intervened in the case, filing a motion to dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction.
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