Justice
How HUD Could Reverse Course on Racial Discrimination
The housing agency plans to revisit its rule regarding “disparate impact,” a legal doctrine that prohibits discrimination that happens because of a policy whose language is otherwise neutral.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development signaled on Wednesday that it may reverse an Obama-era rule that bans more subtle forms of discrimination in housing.
At a time when the department is already locked in a court battle over fair housing law and proposing to raise rents on low-income families, the move indicates Secretary Ben Carson’s efforts to rethink the department’s fundamental obligation to protect vulnerable residents against discrimination.