Civil Rights Leaders Fear 'Disparate Impact' Housing Case

The Baltimore Sun reports:

Lawyers who launched a fair-lending case in Baltimore against Wells Fargo that ended with a $175 million settlement three years ago had an effective weapon: a federal legal standard recognizing discrimination by effect as well as intent.

Housing advocates and civil rights activists now worry a challenge being heard by the Supreme Court jeopardizes this long-standing Fair Housing Act protection.

"It would send a real damaging signal if the court were to invert one of the bedrock civil rights protections," said Barbara A. Samuels, managing attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland's Fair Housing Project. "It would take away an important tool."

The case has the potential to turn fair-housing enforcement here and around the country "upside down," said Robert Strupp, executive director of Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc.

Samuels was inside and Strupp was outside Supreme Court chambers this past week as arguments unfolded in the challenge by the state of Texas to what is known as the "disparate impact" standard.

The Supreme Court takes on quotas.