Do some state and local housing programs violate federal law?

Justice Department issues letter to police departments, government agencies over issues

By Ralph Hardin

news@theeveningtimes.com

Violent crime is an issue in many low-income heighborhoods, and there have been multiple initiatives launched with an eye on reducing those numbers. However, it turns out, some of those programs might be illegal.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that ithas issued a letter to state and local police departments and governments about programs that may violate federal housing protections. The letter describes common features of these widespread programs, sometimes known as “crime-free” or “nuisance” programs, and cautions that they may be unlawful when they unfairly penalize communities of color, individuals with disabilities or survivors of domestic violence.

“Three and a half years ago,” said the letter, “the Justice Department announced a renewed commitment to reducing violent crime and building strong communities where all Americans are safe. Central to this commitment is a violent crime strategy that prioritizes building trust and earning legitimacy within our communities. The department is providing this letter in furtherance of its mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe and to protect civil rights, including by promoting fair access to housing and ensuring that race, national origin, disability, sex or other protected characteristics do not limit housing opportunities or access to emergency services.”

In action, though, some of these programs have turned out to do more harm than good — and could be illegal.

“Even when well-intentioned, these programs can disrupt lives, force families into homelessness and result in loss of jobs, schooling and opportunities for people who are disproportionately low-income people of color – all in violation of federal law,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “These programs can also discourage people with disabilities and their loved ones from seeking help during a mental health crisis and prevent victims of domestic violence from seeking the protection they desperately need. The Justice Department will continue to fight discriminatory and unlawful housing programs across the country while supporting state and local law enforcement and governments to prevent violent crime without violating the right to fair and equal access to housing.”

The letter highlights examples of programs, based on recent enforcement actions, that affect housing rights and may raise questions under federal law. These include programs that:

• Restrict housing based on criminal histories and sometimes just an arrest record; fail to provide for a case-bycase determination of purported safety concerns, including for individuals with

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convictions;

• Impose negative housing consequences on an entire household; provide substantial enforcement discretion that may be used to target certain people who are protected under federal law; were adopted with discriminatory intent, which may be evidenced by the historical backdrop, including growing diversity or racial tension; threaten or impose penalties for calls for disability-related issues, including designating a medical or disability-related call as a nuisance; publicize confidential information about individuals’ disabilities; and/or fail to make reasonable modifications to avoid disability-related discrimination.

Today’s letter describes how these programs may specifically violate the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Violence Against Women Act. It also summarizes recent challenges to “crime-free” and “nuisance” programs by the Justice Department and others — including in Hesperia, California, and Anoka, Minnesota — that resulted in repeals or substantial changes to the programs as well as significant monetary awards for affected individuals.

The letter also explains that while the objective of these programs may be to reduce crime, there is no evidence to support that they accomplish that goal. Instead, as shown in recent enforcement actions, these programs often disproportionately harm survivors of domestic violence, deny individuals with disabilities equal opportunity to receive emergency services and disproportionately impact communities of color. For example, a Black woman living in Hesperia called the police to her home because she did not feel safe with her boyfriend. The sheriff’s department notified her landlord about the numerous domestic disturbance calls and threatened him with a misdemeanor charge. The landlord then pushed the woman and her children out of their home, ultimately forcing her to uproot her family from the city.

For more information about the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice. gov/crt.?For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TTY 833-610-1264) or visit www.ada.gov. Individuals may report housing discrimination by submitting a report?online at civilrights.justice.gov, calling the department at 1-833-591-0291 or emailing fairhousing@usdoj.gov.

Individuals may also report discrimination by contacting the Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777 or by filing a complaint? at www.hud.gov/program_offices/ fair_housing_equal_opp/online-c omplaint.

The department’s grant components provide a wide range of resources to law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, reentry, justice information sharing and community-based partners to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide. For example, in December 2023, the department announced its Violent Crime Reduction Roadmap, a one-stop shop to assist local jurisdictions in developing, implementing and evaluating strategies to prevent, intervene in and respond to violent crime. The department also offers training and technical assistance resources in a wide variety of areas relevant to violent crime reduction. For information about grant funding, training and other resources, please visit the websites of the department’s Office on Violence Against Women, Office of Justice Programs and COPS Office.