Hills v. Gautreaux

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Hills v. Gautreaux

Argued January 20, 1976
Decided April 20, 1976


Full case name:	Hills, Secretary of Housing and Urban Developement v Gautreaux et al.

Citations:	425 U.S. 284; S.Ct. 1538, 47 L.Ed.2d 792

Prior history:	Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Holding

Racially discriminatory public housing programs violate the 5th Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1964, and remedial action to alleviate the effects of such a practice are not only appropriate but extend beyond city limits to the housing market of the city.

Court membership

Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens

Case opinions

Majority by: Stewart
Joined by: Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist
Concurrence by: Marshall
Joined by: Brennan, White
Stevens took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Laws applied

U.S. Const. Amend. V; Civil Rights Act of 1964

Hills v. Gautreaux 425 U.S. 284 (1976), was a 1976 decision of the United States Supreme Court.

In this case a number of Chicago families living in housing projects were awarded Section 8 vouchers allowing them to move to the suburbs in compensation for the housing project's substandard conditions. Carla Anderson Hills was the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the court ruled that the department had violated the Fifth amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The significance of the case lies in the sociological conclusions that can be drawn from it. A number of families chose to move, while others stayed, and Northwestern University researchers studying the two populations concluded that low-income women who moved to the suburbs "clearly experienced improved employment and earnings, even though the program provided no job training or placement services." The disparity arguably proves that concentrated poverty is self-perpetuating and simply alleviating this concentration offers an avenue for improving the quality of life of those afflicted by urban poverty.