Articles

According to a new law review article, residential segregation has declined sharply over the last five decades. The article observes that "in 1970, 80% of African Americans would have had to switch neighborhoods for blacks to be spread evenly across the typical metropolitan area. By 2010, this proportion was down to 55%, and was continuing to f ...

The Washington Examiner published my opinion-editorial yesterday on the Supreme Court's disappointing decision in Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.  Last week, the Court held that the Fair Housing Act (FHA), Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, encompasses claims for disparate impact. The ...

The physical invasion of the raisin snatchers -- a property rights victory at the Supreme Court  In a week marked by several major Supreme Court decisions that were quite disappointing to advocates of limited government and the rule of law, there was one very bright spot: this decision in Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture. That' ...

Today the Court held that disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (our earlier blog post on the case is here). The Court came to this conclusion as a matter of statutory interpretation, but didn't say much about the constitutional problems that might arise in a disparate impact lawsuit. Like the antagonist in the early par ...

In a disappointing 5-4 decision written by Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court held today that the Federal Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, encompasses claims for disparate impact.  The majority insists that disparate-impact claims are consistent with the FHA's central purpose to eradicate discriminatory practices wi ...

The Supreme Court will soon decide whether the Fair Housing Act allows for disparate impact liability. At oral argument, Justice Sotomayor highlighted a major issue in the case: words that unambiguously impose liability for disparate treatment ("to refuse to sell or rent") appear along with words that arguably impose liability for disparate impact ...

Last month the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.  In that case, the Court will decide whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA).  Todd Gaziano, Executive Director of PLF's D.C. Center and Senior Fellow in Consti ...

Today's Sacramento Bee carries this op-ed by PLF attorneys Ralph Kasarda and Wen Fa on Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, the Supreme Court case on whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. We say "no" in our amicus brief to the Supreme Court and in our op-ed. Her ...

PLF's Todd Gaziano, Executive Director of PLF's DC Center and Senior Fellow in Constitutional Law, attended the oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court today in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.  The important issue before the Court is whether the Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits race-neutral ...