50 signatures reached
To: Congresswoman Barbara Lee; Governor Gavin Newsom; Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke; Attorney Ben Crump
Fair royalty payments for Minority landowners of oil and gas mineral rights.
The purpose of this petition is to bring attention to the fact that minority landowners are not receiving equal rights under the law in relation to their ownership interest in oil and gas wells located in the states of Louisiana and Texas. For many years minority landowners have not been provided with a proper accounting of income received from oil and gas production. My family has witnessed numerous minority landowners seeking legal representation and requesting equal payments of oil and gas royalty income. Some examples of the unfair practices are bait and switch offers, lawyers providing false information and unwilling to represent landowners in court, selling oil and gas for prices higher than what was used to determine royalty payment, sales to affiliated companies, as well as lack of transparency regarding calculation of royalty payments.
Nkrumah Al-Omar is a senior citizen landowner that is a native of Oakland, CA and is the owner of property located in the Desoto Parish of Louisianna. He presented a claim in the UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION Case No.: 18-30155 (MI) related to receiving a proper accounting of his oil and gas mineral income received from Exco Resources. He also spoke up on behalf of many other senior citizen minority claimants whose cases were dismissed due to lack of legal representation related to this matter. There were many discriminatory practices that Nkrumah endured while trying to obtain justice for himself and the other minority landowners. Nkrumah was not allowed to receive vital evidence that would have proven his claim and provided support for other claimants to receive compensation. He appealed his case to the District Court in Houston, and from their appealed his case to the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Case No. 21-20078 located in New Orleans, LA. Based on the occurrences that took place during these legal proceedings we are certain if a fair and neutral third party like the Department Of Justice reviews this case it will be determined that elderly minority senior citizens are being taken advantage of and the courts are choosing how they enforce the laws based on race and financial status. We can verify this based on the bankruptcy case referenced above that non-minority landowners were provided with legal representation and offered due process under the law while minority landowners were discriminated against and cases were dismissed. Trial proceedings were altered and I have documented and filed legal pleadings to prove my claim.
We are calling on the Department Of Justice and other elected officials to review this matter and pass required legislation that educates minority landowners on how their royalty payments are determined, and how to gain access to legal representation for claims to ensure they receive due process under the law. This case can set a precedent that benefits minority landowners if it is evaluated by honest and neutral individuals. We understand that this involves a lot of resources to enact, but minority landowners are tired of being taken advantage of by the Federal Courts and are requesting something be done about this issue.
Nkrumah Al-Omar is a senior citizen landowner that is a native of Oakland, CA and is the owner of property located in the Desoto Parish of Louisianna. He presented a claim in the UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION Case No.: 18-30155 (MI) related to receiving a proper accounting of his oil and gas mineral income received from Exco Resources. He also spoke up on behalf of many other senior citizen minority claimants whose cases were dismissed due to lack of legal representation related to this matter. There were many discriminatory practices that Nkrumah endured while trying to obtain justice for himself and the other minority landowners. Nkrumah was not allowed to receive vital evidence that would have proven his claim and provided support for other claimants to receive compensation. He appealed his case to the District Court in Houston, and from their appealed his case to the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Case No. 21-20078 located in New Orleans, LA. Based on the occurrences that took place during these legal proceedings we are certain if a fair and neutral third party like the Department Of Justice reviews this case it will be determined that elderly minority senior citizens are being taken advantage of and the courts are choosing how they enforce the laws based on race and financial status. We can verify this based on the bankruptcy case referenced above that non-minority landowners were provided with legal representation and offered due process under the law while minority landowners were discriminated against and cases were dismissed. Trial proceedings were altered and I have documented and filed legal pleadings to prove my claim.
We are calling on the Department Of Justice and other elected officials to review this matter and pass required legislation that educates minority landowners on how their royalty payments are determined, and how to gain access to legal representation for claims to ensure they receive due process under the law. This case can set a precedent that benefits minority landowners if it is evaluated by honest and neutral individuals. We understand that this involves a lot of resources to enact, but minority landowners are tired of being taken advantage of by the Federal Courts and are requesting something be done about this issue.
Why is this important?
We encourage all to sign this petition. It is a known fact that minorities have been treated unfairly by the use of systemic racism for many years. Many will say those days are all behind us now and that these types of negative practices don’t exist, but based on what transpired in this case it is apparent that these types of injustices are still occurring. Try to picture Mr. Nkrumah Al-Omar whom is 81 years old and his aunt Eunice Hall who is almost 90 years old having to stand up and fight for their rights in Federal Court against a billion-dollar oil company who is represented by one of the top law firms in the country and the judge decides to discriminate against them because they would not accept the lowball offer presented at the trial. One good thing about a bankruptcy legal proceeding is that you can evidence how the law is applied in relation to minorities vs non-minorities. The oil and gas industry is not regulated by a federal agency and many of the discriminatory practices that have occurred in the past in other industries are prevalent in the oil and gas industry. For example, the housing and mortgage industry, was known for unfair practices like redlining, and charging minority borrowers unfair fees, until legislation was passed to provide oversight agencies to ensure fair treatment toward minority borrowers. The same thing needs to happen in the oil and gas industry, until this is done, minority landowners will continue to be taken advantage of.