HIGH COURT RULES IT OK TO EVICT GRANNY

Compassionate conservatism it's not. In what looks like a made-for-TV
tragedy, Pearlie Rucker may be on the street for the sins of her child.

The Supreme Court decided unanimously Tuesday to uphold a law used to
boot the 64-year-old resident from her Oakland housing project after
her mentally disabled daughter was found with cocaine a quarter-mile
away from the house.

Three other public housing residents, Willie Lee, Barbara Hill and
Herman Walker, also got caught in a similar mix of bad luck and
bureaucracy. As an upshot, the four low-income senior citizens are
inching ever closer to homelessness.

The policy originally was developed by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development. It allows for the eviction of tenants if they, or
others in the house, are caught engaging in a crime in or near the
residence. It does not matter, the high court said, whether the main
tenants knew about it.

To attorney Gary Lafayette, the ruling is a victory for people who
live in the projects, people who live near the projects and those
families waiting to get into low-income housing, he said.

"Drug use is almost more dangerous outside the four walls of your
apartment," Lafayette said. "Children go outside to play on the
playground. Would you rather there be a man smoking crack outside, or
inside his apartment?"

Rucker was living with her daughter, Gleinda, when the younger woman
was caught with some of Grandmaster Flash's white lines and a crack
pipe three blocks away from the East Oakland apartment. Rucker said
she regularly searched the modest dwelling, but never saw any sign of
drug use. Despite this, the authority started eviction proceedings in
early 1998.

The Supreme Court decision states Gleinda was locked up after the
incident, and the housing authority dropped its eviction
proceedings.

Eviction proceedings began against Lee and Hill after their two
grandchildren were caught smoking pot in the complex's parking lot.
The grandparents claimed no prior knowledge of the drug use.

"But how old do you think they are?" asked Lafayette, who said the two
still live with Lee and Hill. "They're 34 and 27. That changes things
a bit, doesn't it?"

Walker, 75, is disabled. He cannot live on his own and requires a
caretaker. On three occasions, the aide and two guests were found with
cocaine in Walker's downtown Oakland apartment. After the third
violation, the housing authority terminated the lease and began
eviction proceedings.

The four were lulled into a false sense of security after an en banc
panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor in
January 2001. That court, politically to the left of the high court,
ruled HUD was too harsh in applying its anti-drug policies.

The Supreme Court, in an 8-to-0 decision, reversed the lower court,
finding the language of the law clearly puts the decision in the hands
of local housing authorities. Justice Stephen Breyer, whose brother
Charles heard the case at the trial level, did not take part in the
ruling.

The statute, wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist, gives those
authorities, "the discretion to terminate the lease of a tenant when a
member of the household or a guest engages in drug-related activity,
regardless of whether the tenant knew, or should have known, of the
drug-related activity."

The ruling was disturbing to public housing residents in San
Francisco, and at least one called the decision grossly unfair.

Susan McAllister, who lives in the Bayview housing projects, said laws
and regulations to keep drug dealing and use down are entirely
appropriate, but they go too far. "If my daughter is coming out of
someone else's residence with drugs, I could get evicted?" asked
McAllister. "That's just wrong. I could see it if she was coming out
of this house, but otherwise, it's just not right."

Arelious Walker, the minister of the nearby True Hope Church, said the
ruling might be a good wake-up call.

He said many elderly often live with children who are involved in
drugs without knowing what to do about it. In many cases, grandparents
have kids who bring drugs and guns into the home right under their
noses -- and they have no idea.

"It puts fear into people's hearts," he said. "Now, if people know
they may be evicted, they may be more cautious."

Not many agreed with that logic.

"We can't be our brothers-keepers for everything," said Beverly
Taylor, who works with seniors. "Our system neglects our seniors and
as soon as something happens, they're ready to punish our seniors for
something they're not responsible for."