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| Housing Authority Demand Tenants, Guests Drug Free |
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Posted by FoM on December 30, 1999 at 19:57:38 PT By Kathleen Cannon, Associated Press Source: Boston Globe 
New Jersey housing authorities have the right to force tenants whose rents are federally subsidized to pledge that they, their family members and their guests will remain drug-free or else risk eviction, a state appeals court ruled Thursday. The ruling was a victory for the Atlantic City Housing Authority, whose zero tolerance policy was earlier rejected by a trial court judge. The three-judge appeals panel ruled against three tenants of Atlantic City housing projects who declined to sign their leases for fear they would lose their homes even if they were unaware of drug use by others. Thursday's ruling skirted the constitutional implications of the federal policy that the housing authority was enforcing. It merely recognized that the federal drug-free public housing mandate supersedes state regulations. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation sets the drug-free conditions on tenants who receive rental assistance. It includes the tenants, their family members and their guests, and it covers drug use both on and off the premises. Atlantic City housing officials incorporated the federal language in their leases in 1998. But three tenants, Joanne Spratley, Margarite Burgess and Stacy Jackson, refused to sign. The lower court ruled in favor of the tenants, none of whom could be reached for comment Thursday. Their attorney also did not return a message left by The Associated Press. The trial court found that the federally mandated lease provision was ''unreasonable'' because it subjected tenants to eviction for the criminal acts of others over whom they have no control or knowledge. But ''state nullification of a federally-mandated lease provision based upon a finding of unreasonableness would tear at the very roots of our federal system,'' the judges wrote in Thursday's ruling. The underlying issue of zero tolerance has received ''uneven treatment'' in other courts, with some reaching a strict interpretation of the federal regulations and others granting tenants some leeway, the judges noted. While they chose not to debate the merits of the HUD rules in New Jersey, the judges said tenants who sign the leases are not precluded from fighting the policy later. A lawyer for the housing authority said the ruling has far-reaching implications. ''What the appellate division said here was that tenants just can't refuse to sign what is a valid lease amendment,'' said Allen S. Zeller. He noted that tenants retain their right to appeal eviction on drug charges. ''Our position was, all the other residents have a right to live in circumstances that are drug-free,'' he said. © Published: December 30, 1999 Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on January 01, 2000 at 21:14:59 PT |
The whole machine is basd on military spending; if we stop military spending suddenly, the economy collapses. Can't have that, right? So we have to have something to spend big bucks on, something that directly affects the military. Like the War on (Some) Drugs.
The author of the book proposed several options (some rather blood-curdling, like blood sports, slavery, and pre-packaged wars) to control an out of work populace. Spending the otherwise Cold War largesse on universal housing, health care, education, public works, and so on. All worthy propositions - and all rejected because the main problem is population, and by doing these things we would be (according to him) making matters even worse by encouraging a population boom.
But Lewin never thought about the War on Drugs. And it fits the scenario perfectly. Control of the elements of dissaffected populations, covertly (coke/heroin-in-the-'hood) and overtly (police harrassment, drug arrests, property confiscation, housing regulations aimed at behavior modification, like one of BF Skinner's rats). It's all there, plain as day.
| Comment #2 posted by Frustrated on December 31, 1999 at 09:34:09 PT |
Think about it.
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Comment #1 posted by Chris Campbell on December 30, 1999
at 21:08:31 PT:
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The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation sets the Jew-free conditions on tenants who receive rental assistance. It includes the tenants, their family members and their guests, and it covers Jewishness both on and off the premises. Atlantic City housing officials incorporated the federal language in their leases in 1998.
USA Uber Alles!
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