COURT AFFIRMS RIGHT OF HOUSING AUTHORITIES TO RESTRICT ACCESS

The U.S. Supreme Court gave public housing authorities a key weapon in
fighting crime this week, ruling that such authorities can limit access to
housing complexes.

Public housing complexes are often high-crime areas, but police and housing
officials have found that it's most often not the people who live there who
are committing the crimes. It's people who come there to cause trouble or
sell drugs.

Housing authorities have responded with rules that prohibit people from
coming to the housing complexes without a "legitimate business or social
purpose." If they can't demonstrate such a purpose, those found at the
housing complex are charged with trespassing.

But in Virginia, that rule was proving ineffective. When criminals saw
police, they would step into the street, which is public property, not part
of the housing complex. By doing so, they avoided arrest.

So the city of Richmond transferred ownership of the streets and sidewalks
within housing complexes to the housing authority.

The effect is to set up housing complexes like the gated communities in
which wealthier citizens live. Criminals could be arrested for trespassing
if they were within the bounds of the complex.

The Virginia Supreme Court found this system to violate the Constitution,
claiming that it violated the free speech rights of those arrested. That
court's theory is that police could arrest someone for handing out
religious tracts or for protesting.

The Supreme Court restored common sense to the issue. The law is not aimed
at evangelists or protesters. It is intended to protect the poorest
families from those who would prey on them and turn their neighborhood into
a dangerous high-crime area.

The court has given housing authorities a needed weapon in protecting their
clients. Poor families should have the same right to keep criminals out of
their neighborhoods as wealthier families.

Housing authorities across the nation should look into using this ruling to
protect their residents.