Gautreaux v. Chicago

[Editor's Note: This case can also be found under the title “Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority.”] In 1966, Black public-housing applicants and tenants (the tenants) (plaintiffs) sued the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) (defendant), contending that CHA had engaged in intentional racial discrimination when assigning tenants and selecting housing sites. The tenants also sued the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (defendant), claiming that HUD had assisted CHA in perpetuating racial discrimination in the public-housing system. The district court found that CHA had been inappropriately imposing Black quotas on public-housing projects and that the city council rejected 99 percent of projects in White areas submitted for approval. The district court ordered CHA to build 700 new housing units in predominantly White areas and to construct 75 percent of all future units in White areas. After CHA failed to comply, the district court modified its order to require CHA to submit at least 1,500 sites for approval by September 20, 1970. CHA appealed. The court of appeals affirmed the district court’s order. Against HUD, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that HUD had violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment in approving and funding the sites chosen by CHA in predominantly Black areas. After years of further orders and appeals, the district court ordered HUD to cooperate with CHA’s efforts to comply with a remedial plan increasing the public-housing supply. The court’s order, however, did not require CHA’s efforts to reach beyond the city limits of Chicago. The tenants appealed, contending that, to remedy the past effects of CHA’s unconstitutional policies, the plan should include housing in suburban areas outside of the city of Chicago. CHA and HUD disagreed on what relief the district court should order, but the parties each made statements indicating that a nonmetropolitan remedy would not succeed.