TENANTS SUE TO FIGHT DRUG EVICTIONS

OAKLAND, Calif.--From his cramped living room 13 floors above the midday
growl of downtown traffic, 75 -year-old Herman Walker wonders what he'll do
if he's thrown out of his public housing apartment.

Walker is one of millions of tenants subject to a federal "one-strike" drug
law that can result in eviction for the wrongdoing of visitors or
relatives. Officials say they found crack cocaine or crack pipes on three
visits to Walker's apartment. His caretaker and a friend were arrested on
drug charges.

Walker and three other elderly residents of Oakland public housing who face
eviction aren't going quietly. They are suing the city and federal housing
officials in federal court to stop the evictions, claiming such a move
would violate their civil rights.

Walker, Barbara Hill and Pearlie Rucker, both 63, and Willie Lee, 71, claim
it's unfair to punish them for alleged drug activity they knew nothing
about and couldn't have prevented.

"They're standing up for all of the seniors and all the disabled and all
the elderly people that are just getting thrown out and
treated like
garbage," said Donna Teshima, one of the group's attorneys.

The one-strike-and-you're-out policy under which tenants can be evicted if
they or their guests are arrested -no conviction required -was announced by
President Clinton in 1996. Nationwide, 3,847 public housing tenants were
ousted in the policy's first six months. That was an 84 percent increase
over the number evicted for drugs and other crimes in the previous six
months, according to a 1997 survey of about half the nation's housing
authorities.

Oakland, which owns about 3,300 housing units, evicted 18 tenants under the
policy last year. Oakland Housing Authority officials deny they've picked
the wrong targets in the fight against drugs.

"The authority believes
we have probable cause to move to evict the
people, notwithstanding the fact of their age," said Randolph Hall, the
assistant city attorney defending the housing authority.

Ms. Rucker supports efforts to sweep drugs out of public housing, but she
doesn't think throwing her out along with them is going to help. She
received an eviction notice after police cited her mentally disabled
daughter for possession of cocaine, about three blocks from their home.
Housing officials have dropped the eviction threat, but Ms. Rucker is
pursuing her suit.

Ms. Rucker, who also takes care of two grandchildren and one
great-grandchild, said she searches the apartment regularly and hasn't
found drugs. But she said she can't control what may happen when her 42
- -year-old daughter is outside.

She and Walker also are seeking protection under the Americans with
Disabilities Act -Ms. Rucker because of her daughter's condition and Walker
because he is partially paralyzed from a stroke.

Walker, an ex-serviceman and retired warehouse worker who pays $125 a month
for the apartment, got his eviction notice after the caretaker and friend
were arrested. Walker fired his caretaker after he got his notice, but he
said it's unreasonable to expect him to quiz guests about drug use.

In the other two cases, Ms. Lee's grandson was cited for possession of a
marijuana cigarette in a nearby parking lot. Ms. Hill also is in trouble
because of a grandson getting caught smoking marijuana -in the parking lot
of her complex.

Hall, the housing authority attorney, said tougher policies are crucial for
residents who don't have the means to move away from drug problems. "If you
look at the total impact on a captive, non-criminal population -that's the
driving impetus to trying to get this type of activity out of these
people's lives," he said.

Ira Jacobowitz, one of the attorneys representing the Oakland tenants,
disagreed. "Anybody who says that throwing out an 85 -year-old grandmother
is going to do anything meaningful about the drug problem is fooling
themselves," he said.

Copyright Los Angeles Times