U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS DRUG-RELATED EVICTIONS OF PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS

Embracing the "one-strike, you're-out" rule, the Supreme Court said Tuesday
that entire families may be evicted from public housing for the
drug-related activities of anyone in the household.

Ruling that the law was constitutional, the court said that government
agencies may continue to use aggressive eviction policies to prosecute the
nation's war on drugs.

"We are breathing a sigh of relief around here," said Edwin Lowndes,
executive director of the Housing Authority of Kansas City. "That law gives
us an effective tool to make sure public housing remains safe. We've used
it on several families. This law lets us evict people quicker, to stop
problems before they escalate. I'm glad we can still use that law."

Cinthea Williams, who lives in the Theron B. Watkins housing development
east of downtown, echoed those sentiments.

"All I used to hear about the projects was how bad they are," Williams
said, beaming inside her immaculate apartment. "I'm proud to tell anyone,
'Yeah, I live in the projects.' I feel safer here than I do outside this area.

"And it's all because of that one-strike, you're-out, law. We love it."

Melinda Hopkins, 24, a mother of three who also lives in that development,
says she uses the 14-year-old law as an anti-drug tool with her children.

"I make sure my kids know that our whole family can be kicked out if they
dabble with drugs. I tell them even if their friend is doing drugs, for
them to leave it alone," says Hopkins, who has a three-bedroom apartment at
Watkins. "We like living here, and we want to stay living
here....Zero-tolerance is a good thing."

Critics of the law say its one-strike provision is too harsh.

The case before the justices was brought by four elderly residents in
California who challenged the zero-tolerance policy after receiving
eviction notices. One California tenant, 63-year-old Pearlie Rucker, was
evicted after her mentally disabled daughter was caught with cocaine three
blocks from the apartment she shared with her mother and other family members.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of the
Californians, but Tuesday's ruling reversed that.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote that the government, as a
landlord, can control activities of its tenants while trying to provide
safe, drug-free housing.

"It is not absurd that a local housing authority may sometimes evict a
tenant who had no knowledge of drug-related activity," Rehnquist wrote.

He said that even if tenants were unaware of the drug use, they could still
be held responsible for not controlling narcotics crime by family members
or friends.

The ruling affects anyone who lives in public housing. Senior citizen
groups argued that it would hurt the elderly the most. More than 1.7
million families headed by people older than 61 live in
government-subsidized housing.

But Tom Stibal, executive director of the Housing Authority of Kansas City,
Kan., said the law helps not only the elderly, but also anyone who lives in
government housing.

"Hopefully, that grandma or aunt or uncle won't be surprised by a
grandchild, because we have good managers who know when Junior is out there
on the street corner selling drugs, or carrying a weapon to protect someone
selling drugs, and they tell the relatives about it," he said.

"Often, these kids are coming around because they're visiting
grandma....Unfortunately, you have to get grandma out to make the kid go
away....You have to do this because you have 150 to 200 others living there
whose quality of life is being affected by this circumstance."

Stibal said that he's appreciative of the legal clarification from the
Supreme Court.

"Any landlord has the right to put any condition in their lease as long as
it complies with state law, and this is a condition in a lease that clearly
affects other residents' rights to the peaceful and safe enjoyment of their
homes."

In Kansas City, 1,500 of 1,900 public housing units are occupied. In Kansas
City, Kan., about 1,800 of 2,100 units are occupied. Each month,
approximately five Kansas families are evicted because of criminal
activity, as are 10 Missouri families, according to estimates from the
executive directors.