A Mercer turkey farmer has filed a lawsuit against the State of Maine, challenging a law that restricts residents from serving on a board based on race. 

Scott Greaney, who owns Greaney’s Turkey Farm in Mercer, said he was barred from serving on the state’s Agriculture, Food System, and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment Advisory Board because he is not from a “historically underserved” racial group. 

Greaney is represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm that “defends Americans’ liberties when threatened by government overreach and abuse.”

In a news release, Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Laura D’Agostino said Maine’s racial quota law “violates the constitutional notion of equality before the law.” 

“Excluding individuals from eligibility based on their race is unjust, demeaning, and a violation of the Citizenship and Equal Protection Clauses,” D’Agostino said. 

The Press Herald contacted a Pacific Legal Foundation attorney and the state’s Agricultural Resource Development Division, but neither could be reached Saturday morning.