Page 44 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

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2006 amendment narrowed the ban to students convicted of these offenses while receiving these types of financial assistance .32 The ineligibility periods range depending upon the number of prior convictions as well as whether the conviction(s) involved sale or possession . Thus, the ineligibility period for a first possession offense is one year, and a third offense results in an indefinite ban .33 For sale, the ineligibility period for a first offense is two years, and the second offense results in an indefinite ban .34 However, a suspended student may be reinstated prior to the expiration of the ineligibility period if he or she completes a drug rehabilitation program and passes two unannounced drug tests .35
c. Housing
The Fair Housing Act of 196836 was implemented to prevent the discriminatory use of race, religion, gender, and national origin in housing determinations . Congress later amended the Act to include disability and familial status .37 Generally, the Act applies to federally owned or operated properties, properties that the federal government aided with loans or grants, either directly or by otherwise insuring or guaranteeing, and properties redeveloped with “[f]ederal financial assistance for slum clearance or urban renewal .”38 The Act also generally applies to sales or rentals by individuals who own more than three single-family homes at one time as well as to landlords who rent to more than four families in a dwelling .39
In the 1980s and 1990s, Congress passed a series of laws that impose significant hurdles for individuals with criminal records who reside in or apply to live in federally-assisted housing . These laws require that individuals convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine on federally-assisted housing premises or of a sexual offense that requires lifetime registration be banned permanently .40 Housing authorities may also end tenancies for “drug-related criminal activity” on or off housing premises by any household member or household guests, or for any other criminal activity that “threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents .”41 Outside of these categories, local housing authorities have the power to determine the eligibility of tenants or prospective tenants who have criminal records .42 Across the U .S ., housing authorities have used this power to enact policies that exclude anyone with any type of conviction, for varying time periods depending on the nature of the conviction,43 or to deny individuals convicted of
32 Pub. L. No. 109-171 § 8021, 120 Stat. 4, 178 (amending 20 U.S.C. § 1091).
33 20 U.S.C. § 1091(r)(1).
34 Id.
35 Id. § 1091(r)(2)(A)-(B).
36 Pub. L. No. 90-284, §§ 801-901 (1968).
37 Pub. L. No. 100-88, § 6(b), 102 Stat. 1619, 1622.
38 42 U.S.C. § 3603(a)(1)(A)-(D).
39 Id. § 3603(b)(1)-(2).
40 24 C.F.R. § 966.4(l)(5)(i)(A) (methamphetamine conviction); 42 U.S.C. § 13663(a) (lifetime registration).
41 24 C.F.R. § 966.4(l)(5)(ii)(A).
42 42 U.S.C. § 13661(c).
43 Corinne A. Carey, No Second Chance: People with Criminal Records Denied Access to Public Housing, 31 u. Tol. rev. 545, 566 (2005) (housing authorities “have, in effect, adopted. . . ‘zero tolerance’ policies”).
Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality