BIG BLOW TO PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS

High Court's Decision Tries To Make Tenants More Responsible

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck a powerful blow in support of people
struggling to live safely in public housing.

The court unanimously ruled that the entire family of a drug user can
be evicted from public housing even if other members had no knowledge
of the person's drug use.

The 1.2 million public housing tenants in America can now be held
responsible for the drug use of any resident of their unit, at home or
elsewhere, or for a guest's drug use on the project's premises.

The policy sounds Draconian and heartless. The cases at issue before
the court included a 64-year-old woman and her mentally disabled
daughter, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild ordered out because
the daughter was caught with cocaine three blocks from their apartment.
That's very tough. But housing officials and many residents are
convinced that the power to enforce such policies is essential if
public housing is to be kept relatively free of drugs, crime and violence.
The one-strike law was proposed by President Clinton in 1996 and
passed by Congress, but enforcement was blocked after a federal
appeals court called the government position "absurd."

In an 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the appeals court,
saying tenants who cannot control drug-related crime in their
households pose a threat to the health and safety of all residents.

That's the nub of it, in a situation tantamount to war.
Housing authorities can decide how they will apply anti-drug policies.
For example, the Lee County Housing Authority will evict tenants who
commit felonies, and ban them for five years. But in lesser drug
cases. it will consider giving tenants another chance if they seek
treatment.

Officials and tenants who have fought hard to make public housing a
refuge from crime instead of a magnet for it know how insidious and
devastating drugs can be, and how hard they are to control in high
crime, low-income areas.

Public housing tenants have to take responsibility for their own
conduct and that of the people who share their homes. Otherwise, many
more innocent people will suffer from crime in the projects.

This ruling can be seen as part of a trend, in welfare, criminal
justice and education, to put more responsibility on the heads of
individuals. It's a healthy trend, making the programs more
progressive and much more helpful to the people involved in them and
to the public.

We're happy we have a U.S. Supreme Court willing to promote personal
responsibility so resoundingly.