Supreme Court backs anti-discrimination tool in fair housing case

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that housing discrimination cases can be based on disproportionate “adverse impact” on any group based on race, national origin, color, religion, sex, familial status or disability.

In a 5-4 ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy said disparate-impact claims are consistent with the central purpose of the Fair Housing Act, which was enacted to eradicate discriminatory practices within a sector of the nation’s economy.  

The case, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project Inc., centers on the distribution of low-income housing tax credits in Dallas.

ICP argued that that Texas had violated the 14thAmendment and the Fair Housing Act when it perpetuated segregation by disproportionately approving tax credits for housing projects in minority-centered neighborhoods and disproportionately disapproving tax credits for housing projects in predominately white neighborhoods.

Under the Fair Housing Act, it is unlawful to deny a dwelling to any person because of race. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ICP had proven that the low-income housing tax credits resulted in a disparate impact on African-Americans.

In hearing the appeal from Texas, the justices were asked whether lawsuits under the Fair Housing Act can be based on claims of “disparate impact.”

The legal approach considers a practice discriminatory if it has a disproportionately  “adverse impact” on any group based on race, national origin, color, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.

Housing advocates said barring such claims under the act would have made fighting discrimination in housing — and possibly other civil rights cases — far more challenging.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court’s ruling will impact the ability of housing authorities to build affordable housing.

The Houston Housing Authority, he said, has 43,000 families on its waiting list, of which an overwhelming majority is black.

“Because Houston is a majority-minority city with minority concentrations in all but the more affluent areas, any HHA developments built outside of those areas will increase the concentrations of racial minorities,” he said. “Unsurprisingly, the threat of disparate-impact suits on those concentrations has hindered HHA’s efforts to provide affordable housing.”