Supreme Court upholds the Fair Housing Act

supreme court
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the Fair Housing Act, a 1968 law that made it illegal to deny housing to someone based on their race. The court debated whether the law allowed for lawsuits when a practice has a discriminatory effect, even if there was no intent to discriminate. The case was brought by a community organization in Texas that claimed the Housing Department had segregated Section 8 housing to low-income, high-crime areas. Texas' Housing Department argued that, if they had no intention of discriminating against anyone and had acted with good intentions, then it shouldn't be subjected to lawsuits.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.