Tenants Together welcomes the decision of the United States
Supreme Court today upholding disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing
Act. As a result of this decision,
advocates can continue to challenge housing policies that have a discriminatory
impact, regardless of whether there was discriminatory intent. The
case is Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project.
The decision comes as a surprise to many advocates. The Supreme
Court has become increasingly hostile to social and economic justice in recent
years. The Supreme Court’s initial
decision to review the case signaled that at least four of the nine justices intended to overturn longstanding precedent and weaken the Fair Housing Act.
The protests in Ferguson, Baltimore, and the Black Lives
Matter movement may have tipped the scales in this case. Justice Kennedy, the swing vote, was not willing to take the radical
step of striking down one of the most powerful parts of our nation’s anti-segregation
laws. Four justices – Roberts,
Alito, Thomas and Scalia – favored eliminating disparate impact claims. Justice
Kennedy sided with Justices Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, in the
opinion.
Federal fair housing law protect against discrimination on
the basis of race, color, religion, disability, sex, familial status, or
national origin. Nonetheless, discrimination in rental housing remains rampant
in California and nationwide. For
example, a 2011 study by Fair Housing of Marin found that in 80% of the tests
in Richmond, CA and in 68% of the tests in Sonoma County, CA, landlords showed
preferential treatment to Caucasian over African-American prospective renters.
Tenants Together urges federal, state and
local authorities to step up enforcement against housing discrimination, particularly in light of today’s
Supreme Court ruling.
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