Davis et al. v. The St. Louis Housing Authority
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Davis et al. v. The St. Louis Housing Authority is a landmark class-action lawsuit filed in 1952 in Saint Louis, Missouri to challenge explicit racial discrimination in public housing. The decision enjoined the Saint Louis Housing Authority from refusing to rent certain units to qualified African Americans.[1][2] The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.[3]
The St. Louis Housing Authority is a municipal corporation in St. Louis, Missouri.[4] The Authority is federally funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).[4] The Authority is tasked, in part, with renting public housing units to qualifying applicants.[4][1]
Previous to Davis, it was the policy of the Authority to maintain separate facilities for white and black public housing residents.[1][2] The Court in Davis found that it was the Authority's policy to limit the Clinton Peabody Terrace and John J. Cochran Project to white residents.[1] Similarly, the Court found that the Carr Square Village facilities were limited to black residents.[1]
In the early 1950s, a shortage of units for black residents led some black applicants to apply for admission to buildings reserved for white residents.[1][2] The Court in Davis found that the plaintiffs were "in desperate need of decent, safe and sanitary housing."[1] Finally the Court found that the St. Louis Housing Authority repeatedly denied black applicants housing where the only units left were in buildings reserved for white residents.[1]
Davis Decision
In the Davis case, Federal Judge Moore found the St. Louis Housing Authority's policy of racial segregation unconstitutional.[1] Judge Moore's order permanently prohibited ("forever enjoined") the Authority from discriminating against qualified housing applicants based on their race.[1][5] Further, the Authority was prohibited from maintaining policies of racial segregation in their housing units.[1]
