''Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.'', 576 U.S. 519 (2015), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case in which the Court analyzed whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the

Fair Housing Act The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots. Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applie ...

.''Texas Dept. of Hous. and Cmty. Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.'', No. 13-1371, 576 U.S. ___, slip op. at 23 (2015). In Justice

Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...

's majority opinion, the Court held that Congress specifically intended to include disparate impact claims in the Fair Housing Act, but that such claims require a plaintiff to prove it is the defendant's policies that cause a disparity.

Background

The Federal Government provides tax credits for developers who build

low income housing Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housin ...

. These credits are administered by designated state agencies, and preference is given for the development of housing in low-income areas. The Inclusive Communities Project is a Texas-based non-profit organization that helps low-income families obtain affordable housing. In 2008, they filed suit against the Texas agency responsible for administering these tax credits, claiming it disproportionately allocated too many tax credits "in predominantly black inner-city areas and too few in predominantly white suburban neighborhoods." To support their claim, the Inclusive Communities Project cited statistics that showed "92.29% of ow-income housing tax creditunits in the city of Dallas were located in census tracts with less than 50% Caucasian residents." Both the District Court and the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

ruled in favor of the Inclusive Communities Project, holding that disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. The Texas Department of Housing and Community then appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Opinion of the Court

Majority opinion

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

delivered the opinion of the Court, which in a 5–4 decision held that disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. Justice Kennedy began his analysis by reviewing the historic development of disparate impact claims in federal law and concluded that Congress specifically intended to include disparate impact liability in a series of amendments to the Fair Housing Act that were enacted in the year 1988. Justice Kennedy also argued that " cognition of disparate-impact liability under the FHA also plays a role in uncovering discriminatory intent: It permits plaintiffs to counteract unconscious prejudices and disguised animus that escape easy classification as disparate treatment." However, Justice Kennedy also held that housing authorities and private developers should have an opportunity to defend against disparate impact claims by stating and explaining "the valid interest served by their policies." Justice Kennedy also cautioned that "a disparate-impact claim that relies on a statistical disparity must fail if the plaintiff cannot point to a defendant’s policy or policies causing that disparity."

Dissenting opinions

Justice

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...

issued a dissenting opinion, joined by Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

, Justice

Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...

, and Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...

. Justice Alito argued that the Fair Housing Act never authorized such disparate impact claims in 1968, when the law was enacted, " d nothing has happened since then to change the law's meaning". Justice Thomas also issued a separate dissenting opinion in which he questioned Justice Kennedy's reliance upon ''

Griggs v. Duke Power Co. ''Griggs v. Duke Power Co.'', 401 U.S. 424 (1971), was a court case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on December 14, 1970. It concerned employment discrimination and the disparate impact theory, and was decided on March 8, 1 ...

'' to support the conclusion that the Fair Housing Act permits disparate impact claims.''Inclusive Communities Project'', slip op. at 1, 8-10, 12 (Thomas, J., dissenting) ("''Griggs''’ disparate-impact doctrine defies not only the statutory text, but reality itself.").

References

External links