ONE-STRIKE RULE STRIKES OUT

New Policy Promises Kinder, Gentler Evictions From Public Housing.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco has clarified a Clinton-era
policy that had the effect of sometimes evicting innocent people from
public housing when their guests or relatives used drugs without their
knowledge. Under the five-year-old "one-strike rule," public housing
tenants faced mandatory eviction when their guests or family members were
caught using drugs.

The tenants faced eviction even if they had no way of knowing drug use was
taking place, or had actively tried to prevent it. The decision this week
softens the rule for truly innocent tenants, but it doesn't throw it out --
and that, too, is important.

In the specific case before the court, 63-year-old Pearlie Rucker was
ordered to leave public housing in Oakland after her mentally disabled
daughter was found with cocaine three blocks from their apartment. Willie
Lee, 71, and Barbara Hill, a public housing tenant for 30 years, were
ordered out when their grandsons were caught smoking marijuana in the
parking lot.

In each case, the tenants argued they had no knowledge of the drug use and,
in one case, had taken steps to prevent drug use.

The court found that the Oakland Housing Authority's interpretation of the
federal rule in the case produced an "odd and unjust result" that was "not
intended by Congress." Writing for the Majority, Justice Michael Hawkins
held that, "If a tenant has taken reasonable steps to prevent criminal drug
activity from occurring but for lack of knowledge or other reason could not
realistically exercise control over a household member or guest the
(federal law) does not authorize eviction of such a tenant."

In clarifying federal policy, the court struck a necessary balance between
protecting the rights of innocent tenants and the government's obligation
to provide safe public housing.

Poor people in public housing are particularly vulnerable. They have a
right to live free from the scourge of the drug dealing and violence that
has reached epidemic proportions in many public housing facilities.

Many agencies have used the drug eviction rule aggressively, often with
good results. Even attorneys for some of those unjustly evicted acknowledge
that crime and drug dealing has diminished dramatically as a result of
tougher enforcement. Public housing is safer and that's what everyone
wants, but it should not be achieved by unjustly evicting the innocent.