Public Housing Evictions

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1998 Anti-Drug abuse act: public housing agencies are required to evict tenants if the tenant, a member of his or her family, or guests were involved in drug related crimes.

Precursors: Law enforcement campaigns in which cities where police would lock all exits to public housing buildings and conduct unannounced warrantless drug searches of tenants and their guests.

Policies enacted, like the others, to help communities reduce drug use, drug trafficking, and other associated crime. However, whether or not the enforcement of these laws is an effective way to deter drug crime is debatable.

79 year old male evicted because his live-in caretaker kept a crack pipe in the house
63 year old woman evicted when her mentally disabled daughter was arrested for possession of cocaine three blocks from home
Two elderly women were ordered to leave their homes when their live-in grandchildren were found smoking marijuana in the parking lot of the housing complex

Together, they filed a civil lawsuit which argued their convictions were unconstitutional because of their lack of knowledge of the drug use. Lower court and 9th US Circuit Court supported the tenants claim, but the case ended up going to the Supreme Court
8-0 decision upholding the evictions and the law. Chief Justice Rehnquist writes, "Regardless of knowledge, a tenant who cannot control drug crime by a household member is a threat to other residents."
San Fransisco lawyer responds by saying, "Our argument has always been that if you read the statute literally, you can evict a grandmother who lives in Oakland if their granddaughter is smoking pot in New York."

Do these policies serve to further disadvantage minorities and people with low income?

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