University of California, Irvine School of Law Professor Robert S. Chang, executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, helped to successfully secure for a client a preliminary injunction against two Arkansas laws restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land and from holding ownership in data centers in Arkansas. Prof. Chang served as co-counsel with Alexander T. Jones and Frederick H. Davis of Kutak Rock LLP.
The ruling comes as part of a federal case challenging the constitutionality of Act 636 of 2023, The Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Act, and Act 174 of 2024, an amendment to the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023.
Act 636 prohibits ownership of property in Arkansas by companies or individuals connected with the Chinese government and several other countries considered adversaries of the United States. It gives the state agriculture department authority to investigate allegations of such ownership and directs the attorney general to take action to force the divestiture of the property through judicial foreclosure.
Act 174 amended the law regulating digital asset mining operations, also known as data centers, and prohibits ownership by “foreign-party-controlled” interests connected to the same countries listed in Act 636.
Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker’s decision halts enforcement of the laws against Jones Eagle LLC, a digital data center operator that mines cryptocurrency, and its owner, Qimin “Jimmy” Chen, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in China. The suit claims the two laws are federally preempted as well as violating the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by denying due process, illegally discriminating against a person based on national origin and depriving a person of just compensation for taking property.
I’m grateful to students in the clinic who worked on this during Thanksgiving break, even as they were preparing for their final exams. I’m proud of their commitment to advance justice.Professor Robert S. Chang
Professor Chang argued the equal protection claims during a Dec. 4 hearing. The victory builds on a temporary restraining order the legal team secured two weeks ago. Students from UC Irvine Law’s Civil Rights Litigation Clinic, directed by Professor Paul Hoffman, assisted with the briefing in opposition to the motion to dismiss as well as in support of the motion for preliminary injunction.
“I’m grateful to students in the clinic who worked on this during Thanksgiving break, even as they were preparing for their final exams,” said Professor Chang. “I’m proud of their commitment to advance justice.”
The injunction is in effect until the legal challenge can be decided fully on the merits. The Attorney General of Arkansas, Tim Griffin, has already announced his plan to appeal the court’s preliminary injunction order.
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Original source can be found here.