Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1997

Publication Title

Cleveland State Law Review

Keywords

housing discrimination, Fair Housing Act, Parma, longstanding remedy, federal policy

Abstract

In 1980, the city of Parma, Ohio, Cleveland's largest suburban city was found guilty of violating the Fair Housing Act. Federal District Court Judge Frank Battisti imposed an extensive remedy upon Parma. Upon approval by the Sixth Circuit of the imposed remedy, its implementation began in 1982. Controversy surrounded much of the remedy, and fourteen years later following Battisti's death, Federal District Court judge Kathleen O'Malley approved a new settlment aimed at ending the court's supervision of the modified remedy after another two years. Along with the Gautreaux, Mt. Laurel, and Yonkers cases, the Parma case represents a longstanding remedy aimed at eliminating a pattern and practice of municipal discrimination in housing. It raises the issue of how far courts and the federal judiciary in particular, are willing and able to go in order to address systematic patterns of housing segregation. This article reviews the original decision and its appeal, the implementation of the original remedy, and the more recent remedy and its prospects for success.

Volume

45

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