Strengthen Fair Housing in Maryland: Urge Your Senator to Support SB107!

 

In 39 states, fair housing testers use a  recording device to accurately capture the conversation with a housing provider which can later be used as evidence if the provider violates civil rights law. In Maryland, testers cannot record  conversations in the same way. 

Restricting this ability to effectively test and capture evidence of discrimination weakens enforcement of fair housing in our state. Other states are using recording to enforce the law. In New York, fair housing organizations and New York City won a $2.2 million settlement for source of income discrimination. New Jersey won a $40,000 settlement for source of income discrimination. Virginia also won a recent settlement for source of income discrimination. Maryland, despite finding cases of source of income housing discrimination, has not been able to reach a settlement because we can’t record in the same way that provides strong enough proof to lead to a settlement. 

In the current Annapolis Session, SB107 allows qualified fair housing organizations to use recording devices for testing purposes. There are several benefits to this, including:

(1) Strengthening Fair Housing Enforcement & Justice. The ability to document test experiences through audio recordings provides incontrovertible evidence of illegal housing discrimination

(2) Protecting Testers and Housing Providers. Having an exact account of a conversation protects testers from any credibility or bias as well as protects housing providers from false allegations, misunderstandings, or faulty memories of testers. 

(3) Resulting in More Efficient Allocation of Resources. Saves fair housing organizations money because they can reduce the number of testers, saving using city, county, state, and using federal funds more efficiently and effectively. The use of recorders also allows organizations to maintain the highest investigative standards. 

Urge your senator on the Judicial Proceedings Committee to vote YES on SB107.

Go to Economic Action Maryland

Maryland Commission on Civil Rights' Symposium on Protecting Civil Rights is January 11th

 

Tuesday, December 24, 2024 The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) is honored to invite you to join us at our upcoming symposium, "Protecting Civil Rights During Challenging Times." The symposium will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2025 from 9:00am-3:00pm at Howard Community College. This event is free of charge with lunch provided. REGISTER TODAY We will focus on addressing civil rights challenges in today's uncertain environment and the collaborative efforts needed to safeguard equity and justice for all Marylanders. Our guests include representatives from the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, the Governor's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and more! Thank you for your continued support of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights as we strive to break barriers, uplift voices, and create even greater change! Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships HOME      ABOUT MCCR      SERVICES      PUBLICATIONS      EVENTS      PRESS      CONTACT US

HUD Settles Tennessee Apartment Violations of Americans with Disabilities Act and the Violence Against Women Act

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement with HUD-funded Tennessee housing providers Alco Greenbriar Partners LP, Alco Properties, Inc., and Alco Management, Inc., requiring the respondents to pay $50,000 in compensation to the aggrieved parties. The VCA resolves findings of noncompliance related to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as findings of noncompliance related to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Read the Agreement, Letter of Findings and the VAWA Memo.

The case began with a limited compliance review initiated by HUD in 2022 regarding Greenbriar Apartments, a 208-unit development in Tennessee. HUD found that the respondents effectively denied multiple reasonable accommodation/modification requests, as well as instances of VAWA noncompliance regarding two households that experienced incidents of sexual assault and/or domestic violence and were not provided the requested VAWA transfers or take any additional action to process the requests.

HUD also found that the respondents were unwilling to transfer residents from one Alco property to another when a vacancy that met the need of the requesting tenant was unavailable at Greenbriar, that 5% of the units were not accessible to individuals with mobility impairments, and 2% more of the units were not accessible to individuals with hearing or vision impairments.

Under the 2023 Agreement resolving the Section 504 findings and VAWA issues, the respondents agreed to: pay $50,000 in monetary compensation for the five aggrieved parties; amend its reasonable accommodation transfer log; revise the transfer policy; revise its VAWA policies; construct or convert 10 UFAS-accessible units, with an additional 4 units for the hearing and visually impaired and accessible common areas; designate a VAWA Coordinator; respond to VAWA-related grievances and transfer requests within 10 days; and attend VAWA training.

Anyone who feels they have experienced discrimination in housing may file a complaint by contacting HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (Federal Relay Service). Housing providers' responsibilities to provide reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications to individuals with disabilities are available here.

Read the January 25, 2023 HUD release.

US District Court Judges are Mostly White

25 of the 94 Federal District Courts have Never Had a Non-White Judge - Including Pennsylvania Middle and All New England States

According to a recent Bloomberg Law analysis of federal court records, 8 states in the South and 15 from the Northeast to the upper Great Plains have courts that never have had a non-White judge. While there are not any formal requirements to be considered for a federal judgeship, many trial court judges come from major law firms, US attorney’s offices, or were already judges in other courts. Black Americans have historically been underrepresented in those jobs in many states. 

President Barack Obama significantly diversified the federal courts: about one-fifth of his judicial appointees were Black, and President Joe Biden already has done more. He has gotten confirmed a far higher percentage of women (67.1%) than President Donald Trump (23.9%) or President Barack Obama (41.9%). Overall, 66% of Biden’s nominees have been people of color, according to the White House. Some 30% of Biden’s confirmed judges have been African American, compared to 3.9% under Trump and 17.9% under Obama. 

Many Black lawyers have not had the elite professional experiences and political connections that help elevate White lawyers to the US bench, according to local Black lawyers. The result is a major deficit in the administration of justice on the court when ever-deepening political polarization has increased the power of a single district judge. Their rulings at the trial district court level frequently start high-profile battles over immigration, public health, criminal justice, and other contentious social issues.

One example of the impact of the proportionate deficit of black judges is the Southern District of Georgia - the cities of Savannah and Augusta and 43 counties on the coast and in state’s southeastern corner. Nearly one-third of the district’s residents are Black, making it the most diverse of any judicial district that has only ever had White judges. There is a disproportionate number of Black criminal defendants, at times 70% to 80% of the defendants charged were people of color. 

Research is mixed on how a judge’s racial identity impacts their decision-making in criminal cases. Some studies have found that Black judges are more punitive though others are not. One former prosecutor said to avoid disproportionate harm to some communities, the justice system needs to reflect a diversity of life experiences and perspectives.

*****

Read the September 5, 2023 Bloomberg Law News article.

Read the July 30, 2023 Washington Post article.