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  Evictions Last Resort in Drug War
Posted by FoM on April 16, 2002 at 19:09:16 PT
By Jennifer Loven, Associated Press Writer 
Source: Associated Press 

justice Local officials should use "compassion and common sense" before evicting a family from public housing because one member was caught with drugs, the federal government's housing chief said Tuesday.

Housing Secretary Mel Martinez also urged local officials to view taking away the often poor tenants' homes as a last resort in the effort to purge public housing developments of drugs.

"By addressing activities that threaten the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, the household responsibility clause provides public housing authorities a strong tool to use in dealing with the problem of illegal drugs," Martinez said in a letter to all 3,200 local public housing directors. "But as a tool, it should be applied responsibly. Applying it rigidly could generate more harm than good."

At issue is the so-called "one-strike" provision of a drug law Congress passed in 1988. Spottily enforced until then-President Clinton made a tougher standard a campaign-year pledge, the policy gives local public housing authorities the option of evicting tenants if a guest or family member uses, sells or possesses drugs, regardless of whether the use was on housing property or if anyone else knew about it.

Four elderly California tenants challenged the zero-tolerance law and related regulations after receiving eviction notices. The Supreme Court, without dissent, upheld it last month.

Three of the four involved in the lawsuit have now been allowed to stay in their apartments, because the drug problems that prompted evictions were resolved during the four-year court battle.

Martinez noted that enforcement is left to the discretion of local public housing directors.

"I would like to urge you ... to be guided by compassion and common sense in responding to cases involving the use of illegal drugs," he wrote. "Consider the seriousness of the offense and how it might impact other family members. Eviction should be the last option explored."

Martinez's letter does not have the force of law, as HUD cannot impose the policy on local agencies. But many authorities look to HUD for guidance.

Housing leaders, who had argued that the threat of losing housing is a powerful deterrent against drug use, said Martinez is urging them toward the kind of measured action they already are taking. Tim Kaiser, director of the Public Housing Authority Directors Association, said the law never was seen as a requirement to evict.

"Public housing authorities have and will continue to exercise discretion and common sense," Kaiser said. "But the important thing is that eviction remains a tool in the arsenal."

Critics of the law have argued that losing one's home is too onerous a punishment, imposed on the poor but not others who also receive federal benefits.

There are no statistics on the number of people who have lost their government-subsidized housing because of drugs.

On the Net:

HUD: http://www.hud.gov

Source: Associated Press
Author: Jennifer Loven, Associated Press Writer
Published: April 16, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Associated Press

Related Articles:

High Court Rules It's OK To Evict Granny
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12394.shtml

Scales of Justice
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12380.shtml

Justices Rule Drug-Eviction Law Is Fair
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12370.shtml


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Comment #6 posted by john wayne on April 17, 2002 at 19:37:46 PT
the word "compassion"
in the republicrat dictionary simply means:

kick their asses with a little less enthusiasm, ok? Try not to look so much like you're enjoying it, eh, big fella?

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Comment #5 posted by krutch on April 17, 2002 at 11:15:29 PT:

compassion and common sense
Mel Martinez has overlooked the fact that local officials and the courts are incapable of showing any compassion or common sense. They have turned old people onto the street who had no clue that anything illegal was going on with the members of the household who broke the law. Martinez is a day late and a dollar short with these comments. The policy is draconian and unfair, and should be eliminated.

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Comment #4 posted by dddd on April 16, 2002 at 23:47:41 PT
....p4me....
...I enjoy your excellent commentaries...........Keep on Keepin' on..........Sincerely...dddd

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Comment #3 posted by p4me on April 16, 2002 at 23:18:06 PT
Turmel and posterity
I guess the choir here knows I keep up with what Turmel is doing in Canada. He is one upbeat guy about taking it to the Courts. He has two new post out- 308 & 309. In 308 he is talking about the significance of a Terry Parker win and the fact that they will have to set aside all marijuana laws in Canada. He says that if all the MJ laws are found unconstitutional the day of the verdict, they would have been unconstitutional a year ago or 50 years ago and they would have to let all the MJ prisoners out of jail. Which you can read what he says for yourself.

The main thing I found of interest was when he said in 50 years his messageboard would contain the history of this stupid prohibition. It is something I wonder about Cnews. They are coming out with the new DVD formats for disk that will hold 13 hours of video. How much text that would hold I have no clue, but it is close to a year's worth of Cnews. I would hope that this record could be preserved so that in 50 years they do not think that we all had the reefer madness that has blinded our politicians thoughts.

This is kind of where you miss a Steve Tuck. He might contribute to what I am asking as he has been in Canada long enough to know or know how to find out. Now, it is the Human Rights Act that was used in the Terry Parker case and we all know that the US has no such Human Rights Act and some could say is in violation of the four freedoms presented to the United Nations by Eleonor Roosevelt. The thing I wanted to mention is that the laws in Canada are built around the Bible, although I do not know how to phrase it properly. Maybe someone will phrase it better so we can better understand about the liberation coming to Canada.

Turmel's last message was to draw support for him taking over the Marijuana Party and he is thick with campaign promises. Turmel also wonders about the lack of media coverage in message 308.

I am in total disbelief of this situation(Tuck and Kubby.) It is like people walk around like they have good sense. Then all you have to do is see how they drive and you understand that they don't have any sense. And they sure do not care about their fellow man. This is unbelievable to me. Really unbelievable.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MedPot/message/308

VAAI

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Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 16, 2002 at 21:00:04 PT
evicting families
These laws make this world a dark place.

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Comment #1 posted by p4me on April 16, 2002 at 20:27:10 PT
Republican Venom
This is more of a thoughts at large effort than really commenting on throwing poor people out on the street just because the supreme court says you can. About the one thing that I suspect is that this power will be abused as in the cases that are often cited of people being thrown out when their caregiver had MJ or a relative was in the parking lot with some pot. I think there will be a backlash to the Republican candidates this November because of the absurdity of not legalizing marijuana after all the lies of brain damage and birth defects have been debunked. Hell, if birth defects is a reason to throw people in jail, there is not much more pitiful than a baby born with Alcohol Defect Syndrome.

I have taken a real interest in politics now that I have found good sources on the web and the times demand that our citizenry reel in the drug war minus T&A mongers. I have not read the term Republican venom and I wanted to present it to see if anyone has a comment. I graduated UNCC in 1975 and some of us still gather about once a year. Two years ago about a month before the election, a fellow accounting graduate and a roommate of mine for the year after college could not let go of Bill Clinton waiving his finger and saying he did not have sexual relations with that woman. I said what the Republicans did was ugly much less a waste of 70 million dollars. He just had Republican venom. All he needed was Bill Clinton waiving his finger on tv and his Republican Venom started flowing.

Now we have GWB that lied about a very sensitive issue and a campaign issue that could have cost him the election had he said, "I intend to break medical marijuana with every means possible including calling for a ban on hemp foods," he would not have carried Florida, because of all the old people that are interested in medicine for their aging retired bodies. All I have to ask is, "Where is that Republican Venom now that Busch lied and why isn't a lie that changed the political outcome of the presidency a hundred times more important than the sexual lie." I already here the reply. "Are you saying Clinton didn't lie?"

I am saying there is such a thing as Republican Venom. And by the way, I think the Democrats are still politicians and they bend to money the same as Republicans. It is just that the right wing is so cohesive that you get the first sheep down the path and the rest of the sheeple will follow. The venom will not kill the snake, but the snake might get killed because of its venom.

I just cannot get over how a warped man like Nixon changed so many lives for the worst when the Presidential Commission said in its 1972 report that there should be no criminal penalty for marijuana. There it was in clear language and it got all twisted into what we have today. I just cannot get over that much less still arguing against it today. This Congress needs to replaced down to the last person. They have failed us badly and they are not thinking of the children. If they were thinking of the children, they would admit they have screwed things up and have replaced the free press with the corporate press we have today and say "I cannot run because I have failed you badly."

VAAI

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