Magner v. Gallagher Brief Amicus Curiae

    No. 10-1032

In The

Supreme Court of tfje ®mteb States

St e v e  M a g n e r , et a l,
Petitioners,

v.
T h o m a s  J. G a l l a h e r , et a l,

Respondents.

On Writ of Certiorari to the 
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE 
NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATIONAL FUND, 

INC. IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS

John  Payton  
Director-Counsel 

DEBO P. ADEGBILE 
Elise  C. Boddie 

Counsel of Record 
R eNika  C. M oore 
Ryan  Dow ner  
R ia  A. Tabacco  
NAACP Legal Defense  

& Educational, Fu n d , In c . 
99 Hudson Street, 16th Floor 
New York, NY 10013 
(212) 965-2200 
eboddie@naacpldf.org

J osh ua  Civin  
NAACP L egal D efense 

& Educational  Fu n d , In c . 
1444 I Street, NW, 10th Floor 
Washington, DC 20005January 30, 2012

mailto:eboddie@naacpldf.org


TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................i
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES................  ii
INTEREST OF AMICUS.............................................1
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT........................... 2
ARGUMENT......................   6
I. The burden-shifting framework is worka­

ble, fair, and effective at rooting out unjus­
tified barriers to housing opportunity............... 6
A. The threshold showing required at the

prima facie stage adequately polices 
the boundaries of disparate impact............ 8

B. After a prima facie case is established, 
liability attaches only if the defendant 
fails to justify its policy or if its legiti­
mate objective can be achieved by 
some other less discriminatory means.... 13

C. The defendant appropriately bears the
burden of persuasion at the second 
stage of the burden-shifting inquiry........ 15

II. Building code enforcement can be the sub­
ject of a bona fide disparate-impact claim.......18

III. The Eighth Circuit correctly applied the
burden-shifting test on summary judg­
ment.......................................................................22

CONCLUSION............................................................28



TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases
2922 Sherman Avenue Tenants’ Association v. 

District of Columbia, 444 F.3d 673 (D.C.
Cir. 2006)............................................................... 8-9

Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405 
(1975).......................................................................... 6

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., A ll U.S. 242 
(1986)....................................................................... 23

Antrum v. Washington Metropolitan Area 
Transit Authority, 710 F. Supp. 2d 112 
(D.D.C. 2010)........................................................... 10

Bradley v. Pizzaco of Nebraska, Inc., 939 F.2d 
610 (8th Cir. 1991).................................................. 10

Brown v. Artery Organization, Inc., 654 
F. Supp. 1106 (D.D.C. 1987)..............................  1-2

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, A ll  U.S. 317 (1986)........27
Comer v. Cisneros, 37 F.3d 775 (2d Cir. 1994)........1
Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental 

Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59 (1978)...............  25
Good News Club v. Milford Central School,

533 U.S. 98 (2001)................................................. 23
Graoch Associates #33, L.P. v. Louisville/ 

Jefferson County Metro Human Relations 
Commission, 508 F.3d 366 (6th Cir.
2007)........................................................  7, 14, 19-20

Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003).................  21



Ill

Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 
(1971)............................................................... passim

Hallmark Developers, Inc. v. Fulton County,
466 F.3d 1276 (11th Cir. 2006)................... .......  10

Hispanics United o f DuPage County v. Village 
of Addison, 988 F. Supp. 1130 (N.D. 111.
1997)......................................................................... 16

Huntington Branch, NAACP v. Town 
of Huntington, 844 F.2d 926 (2d Cir.
1988).................................................................passim

Huntington Branch, NAACP v. Town of 
Huntington, 668 F. Supp. 762 (E.D.N.Y.
1987)......................................................................... 12

In re Employment Discrimination Litigation 
Against Alabama, 198 F.3d 1305 (11th Cir.
1999)............................................................................ 6

International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. 
United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977)................  9, 25

Keith v. Volpe, 858 F.2d 467 (9th Cir. 1988)..........  11
Kennedy Park Homes Association, Inc. v. City 

of Lackawanna, 436 F.2d 108 (2d Cir. 1970)...... 1
Langlois v. Abington Housing Authority, 234 

F. Supp. 2d 33 (D. Mass. 2002)...........................  15
Lewis v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 2191

(2010) ........................................................................2, 8
Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano, 131 

S. Ct. 1309 (2011)..................................................... 8
McCauley v. City of Jacksonville, 739 F. Supp.

278 (E.D.N.C. 1989) 12



IV

McClain v. Lufkin Industries, Inc., 519 F.3d 
264 (5th Cir. 2008)................................................... 8

McGhee v. Sipes, 334 U.S. 1 (1948).......................... 1
Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory,

554 U.S. 84 (2008)......................................  9, 18, 20
Mountain Side Mobile Estates Partnership v. 

Secretary of Housing & Urban Development,
56 F.3d 1243 (10th Cir. 1995).................  14-15, 22

Mt. Healthy City School District Board of 
Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274 (1977)........... 21

Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. v. 
Township of Mount Holly, 658 F.3d 375 
(3d Cir. 2011)............................................  11, 15, 21

NAACP v. American Family Mutual
Insurance Co., 978 F.2d 287 (7th Cir. 1992)........1

National Cable & Telecommunications 
Association v. Brand X  Internet Services,
545 U.S. 967 (2005).................................................. 4

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. 
Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 
(2007).......................................................................... 2

Resident Advisory Board v. Rizzo, 564 F.2d 
126 (3d Cir. 1977)..................................................  11

Ricci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 2658 (2009)..............7
Robinson v. 12 Lofts Realty, Inc., 610 F.2d 

1032 (2d Cir. 1979)...........    10
Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)....................... 1
Smith v. City of Jackson, 544 U.S. 228 (2005). 17-18 
Thompson v. United States Department of



V

Housing & Urban Development, No. 95-CV- 
309, 2006 WL 581260 (D. Md. Jan. 10, 
2006).........................................................................

Town of Huntington v. Huntington Branch, 
NAACP, 488 U.S. 15 (1988)............................  6,

Tsombanidis v. West Haven Fire Department, 
352 F.3d 565 (2d Cir. 2003).................................

United States v. City of Black Jack, 508 F.2d 
1179 (8th Cir. 1974)..........................................  3,

United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996)....
United States v. Yonkers Board of Education, 

837 F.2d 1181 (2d Cir. 1987)...............................
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 

2541 (2011)................ .............................................
Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 

642 (1989).........................................................  17-
Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust, 487 U.S. 

977 (1988)....................................................6-7, 8-

Court Filings and Docketed Cases
Amicus Brief of United States, 2922 Sherman 

Avenue Tenants’ Association v. District of 
Columbia (D.D.C. 2004) (No. 00-CV-862), 
available at http://www.justice.gov 
/crt/about/hce/documents/amicus_sherman. 
p h p ..................................................... ...................

Consent Decree, Byrd v. First Real Estate 
Corp. of Alabama, No. 95-CV-3087 (N.D. 
Ala. May 14, 1998)..................................................

.. 1

13

10

10
17

10

.. 9

■18

10

19

. 1

r

http://www.justice.gov


1
Price v. Gadsden Corp., No. 93-CV-1784 (N.D. 

Ala. filed Aug. 30, 1993)...................................

Statutes
Civil Rights Act of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102-166,

105 Stat. 1071 (1991)............................................. 17
Fair Housing Act of 1968, Pub. L. No. 90-284,

82 Stat. 81 (1968) (codified as amended at 
42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3631)................................passim

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k)................................................ 18
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k)(l)(B)(i).................................... 8

Congressional Materials

H.R. Rep. No. 102-40 (1991), reprinted in 
1991 U.S.C.C.A.N. 684................................. .......  16

Federal Rules and Regulations
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12......................................................... 8
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56........................................................8
24 C.F.R. § 91.210(e).................................................19
Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s 

Discriminatory Effects Standard, 76 Fed.
Reg. 70,921 (proposed Nov. 16, 2011) (to be 
codified at 24 C.F.R. pt. 100)........................passim

Other Authorities
Civil Rights Division, United States Depart­

ment of Justice, Title VI Legal Manual



(2001), available at http://www.justice.gov/ 
crt/about/cor/coord/vimanual.php.........................8

Debbie Gruenstein Bocian et al., Foreclosures 
by Race and Ethnicity: The Demographics 
of a Crisis (Center for Responsible Lend­
ing), June 18, 2010, available at
http://www.responsiblelending.org/mortga 
ge-lending/research-analysis/foreclosures-

vii

by-race-and-ethnicity.pdf.......................................3
Douglas S. Massey & Nancy A. Denton, 

American Apartheid: Segregation and the 
Making of the Underclass (1993)....................... 3

NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund,
Inc. et al., The Future of Fair Housing: Re­
port on the National Commission of Fair 
Housing and Equal Opportunity (Dec. 
2008), available at http://naacpldf.org/ 
files/publications/Future%20of%20Fair%20 
Housing.pdf...............................................................2

Beryl Satter, Family Properties: Race, Real 
Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban 
America (2009) 3

http://www.justice.gov/
http://www.responsiblelending.org/mortga
http://naacpldf.org/


1

INTEREST OF AMICUS*
The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, 

Inc. (LDF) is a non-profit legal organization that for 
more than seven decades has helped African Ameri­
cans secure their civil and constitutional rights. 
Throughout its history, LDF has challenged public 
and private policies and practices that deny African 
Americans housing opportunity and isolate African- 
American communities. See, e.g., McGhee v. Sipes, 
334 U.S. 1 (1948) (companion case to Shelley u. 
Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)) (racially restrictive cove­
nants); Comer v. Cisneros, 37 F.3d 775 (2d Cir. 1994) 
(racial discrimination in public housing and assis­
tance programs); NAACP v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. 
Co., 978 F.2d 287 (7th Cir. 1992) (redlining); Ken­
nedy Park Homes Assn, Inc. v. City of Lackawanna, 
436 F.2d 108 (2d Cir. 1970) (exclusionary zoning); 
Thompson v. U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urban Dev., No. 
95-CV-309, 2006 WL 581260 (D. Md. Jan. 10, 2006) 
(federal government’s obligation to affirmatively fur­
ther fair housing); Consent Decree, Byrd v. First 
Real Estate Corp. of Ala., No. 95-CV-3087 (N.D. Ala. 
May 14, 1998) (racial steering); Price v. Gadsden 
Corp., No. 93-CV-1784 (N.D. Ala. filed Aug. 30, 1993) 
(unfair lending practices); Brown v. Artery Org., Inc., 
654 F. Supp. 1106 (D.D.C. 1987) (private and mu­
nicipal redevelopment plans that unfairly eliminate

1 Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37.6, counsel for amicus 
state that no counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or 
in part, and that no person other than amicus, its members, or 
its counsel made a monetary contribution to the preparation or 
submission of this brief. The parties have filed blanket consent 
letters with the Clerk of the Court pursuant to Supreme Court 
Rule 37.3.



2

or limit affordable housing for minority communi­
ties); see also NAACP Legal Defense & Educ. Fund, 
Inc. et al., The Future of Fair Housing: Report on the 
National Commission of Fair Housing and Equal 
Opportunity (Dec. 2008), available at 
http://naacpldf.org/files/publications/Future%20of%2 
0Fair%20Housing.pdf. Before this Court, LDF has 
also played an instrumental role in advancing the 
doctrine of disparate-impact discrimination. See, 
e.g., Lewis v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 2191 (2010); 
Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971).

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

Since the enactment of the Fair Housing Act of 
1968 (FHA), Pub. L. No. 90-284, 82 Stat. 81 (1968) 
(codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3631), this 
nation has made progress eliminating racial segre­
gation and discrimination in public and private 
housing. Yet, as Justice Kennedy has emphasized:

. . . our tradition is to go beyond present 
achievements, however significant, and to 
recognize and confront the flaws and injus­
tices that remain. This is especially true 
when we seek assurance that opportunity is 
not denied on account of race. The enduring 
hope is that race should not matter; the real­
ity is that too often it does.

Parents Involved in Cmty. Schs. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. 
No. 1, 551 U.S. 701, 787 (2007) (Kennedy, J., concur­
ring in part and concurring in the judgment).

Even today, our nation’s housing market is ad­
versely affected by the vestiges of de jure residential 
segregation. Moreover, as our recent economic crisis 
has starkly revealed, racially discriminatory housing

http://naacpldf.org/files/publications/Future%20of%252


3

policies and practices — utilized by private actors and 
by officials at every level of government — continue to 
deny housing opportunities to African Americans 
and to isolate African-American communities. See, 
e.g., Debbie Gruenstein Bocian et al., Foreclosures by 
Race and Ethnicity: The Demographics of a Crisis 
(Ctr. for Responsible Lending), June 18, 2010, at 
4, available at http://www.responsiblelending.org/ 
mortgage-lending/research-analysis/foreclosures-by- 
race-and-ethnicity.pdf (noting that the recent fore­
closure crisis is “particularly devastating to African- 
American and Latino families . . . [and] dispropor­
tionately impact[s] communities of color”); see gener­
ally Beryl Satter, Family Properties: Race, Real Es­
tate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America 
(2009); Douglas S. Massey & Nancy A. Denton, 
American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of 
the Underclass 17-59 (1993).

The FHA’s prohibition of disparate-impact dis­
crimination is a key tool in the ongoing struggle to 
ensure fair housing for all and to promote a more in­
clusive society. By helping to redress unjustified ra­
cial disparities, disparate impact eliminates policies 
and practices that are as “disastrous and unfair to 
private rights and the public interest as the perver­
sity of a willful scheme.” United States v. City of 
Black Jack, 508 F.2d 1179, 1185 (8th Cir. 1974) (in­
ternal quotation marks omitted).

Should the Court decide to reach the questions 
presented by the City of St. Paul and its officials (de­
fendants below) in their petition for certiorari, it 
should conclude that disparate impact is cognizable, 
see Resp. Br. 43-59, and should adopt the burden- 
shifting framework that has been proposed by HUD,

http://www.responsiblelending.org/


4

see Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Dis­
criminatory Effects Standard, 76 Fed. Reg. 70,921 
(proposed Nov. 16, 2011) (to be codified at 24 C.F.R. 
pt. 100), and that is supported by the United States 
in its amicus brief, see Amicus Br. of United States 
in Support of Neither Party [hereinafter “U.S. Br.”]; 
Resp. Br. 59-60. Should the Court proceed further 
and reach the issues raised for the first time in the 
City’s merits brief — involving the matter of whether 
the Eighth Circuit correctly applied the burden- 
shifting test -  it should affirm the judgment of the 
court of appeals.2

LDF writes separately to emphasize that the 
burden-shifting framework — which has been en­

2 The significance of the questions presented here to the 
continuing vitality of disparate impact underscores the impor­
tance of selecting the appropriate case for their adjudication. 
For all of the reasons advanced by the Respondents, see Resp. 
Br. 21-42, this is not that case. The petition should be dis­
missed as improvidently granted on multiple grounds — includ­
ing the lack of any live controversy as to the appropriate stan­
dard for adjudicating disparate-impact claims and the pending 
HUD rule-making on this very subject, see 76 Fed. Reg. 70,921; 
Nat’l Cable & Telecomms. Ass’n v. Brand X  Internet Servs., 545 
U.S. 967, 982 (2005) (“Chevron's premise is that it is for agen­
cies, not courts, to fill statutory gaps.”). Furthermore, the long­
standing, uniform view of the federal courts of appeals and 
HUD that disparate-impact claims are cognizable under the 
FHA indicates that there is no controversy necessitating this 
Court’s review of the first question presented. Finally, the 
City’s eleventh-hour request (for the first time in its merits 
brief) that the Court determine whether the Eighth Circuit 
properly applied the burden-shifting standard on summary 
judgment, see Pet. Br. 44-53, is not worthy of the Court’s lim­
ited time and resources.



5

dorsed by a majority of the courts of appeals and by 
HUD in its proposed rule-making — provides a 
workable, fair, and effective mechanism for rooting 
out concealed racially discriminatory intent as well 
as policies and practices that inflict or perpetuate 
adverse racial effects, without sufficient justification. 
Although there is “minor variation,” 76 Fed. Reg. at 
70,923, in how courts throughout this country have 
applied the burden-shifting framework, it has 
proven more than adequate for distinguishing be­
tween claims that are undeserving and those that 
are meritorious. Courts are well-equipped to apply 
this test in order to provide redress for the disparate 
and unjustified denial of housing opportunities while 
protecting the bona fide, non-discriminatory inter­
ests of defendants.

LDF also writes to emphasize that a municipal­
ity’s code enforcement practices can be the proper 
subject of a valid disparate-impact claim. Where, as 
in this case, there is a demonstrable shortage of af­
fordable housing and African Americans or another 
group covered by the FHA are disproportionately 
represented among low-income tenants, a City’s se­
lective and inflexible enforcement of its building code 
in a way that targets private landlords of low-income 
housing can have a disproportionate, adverse im­
pact. Obviously, code enforcement has important 
public safety and health benefits, but the City and 
its amici go too far when they assert that code en­
forcement should be categorically exempt from dis­
parate-impact claims. The FHA does not immunize 
municipalities from disparate-impact claims that 
challenge code enforcement, nor is it sound to infer



6

as much given the Act’s goal of promoting fair hous­
ing opportunity.

ARGUMENT

I. The burden-shifting framework is workable,
fair, and effective at rooting out unjustified
barriers to housing opportunity.
The burden-shifting framework addresses two 

complementary goals of the FHA’s prohibition 
against disparate-impact discrimination. First, it 
helps to screen out discrimination that is inten­
tional, but subtle or concealed. The burden-shifting 
framework provides a powerful evidentiary tool in 
cases where discrimination may otherwise be diffi­
cult to prove — by countering, in an orderly and sen­
sible fashion, explanations for policies or practices 
that have a demonstrably adverse impact. Cf. Albe­
marle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405, 422, 425-36 
(1975) (explaining disparate impact in Title VII con­
text); In re Emp’t Discrimination Litig. Against Ala., 
198 F.3d 1305, 1321 (11th Cir. 1999) (same).

Second, and equally important, the disparate- 
impact framework eliminates -  through the same 
burden-shifting mechanism — practices that may be 
neutral on their face but nevertheless perpetuate ra­
cial disparities without any legitimate justification. 
See Huntington Branch, NAACP v. Town of Hunting- 
ton, 844 F.2d 926, 935 (2d Cir. 1988) (“Often [facially 
race-neutral] rules bear no relation to discrimination 
upon passage, but develop into powerful discrimina­
tory mechanisms when applied.”), aff’d, Town of 
Huntington v. Huntington Branch, NAACP, 488 U.S. 
15 (1988) (per curiam); see also Watson v. Fort Worth- 
Bank & Trust, 487 U.S. 977, 987 (1988) (“[T]he nec­



7

essary premise of the disparate-impact approach is 
that some employment practices, adopted without a 
deliberately discriminatory motive, may in operation 
be functionally equivalent to intentional discrimina­
tion.”). These disparities “freez[e]” in place the 
status quo created by prior racial discrimination. 
Griggs, 401 U.S. at 430. Accordingly, a finding of 
disparate-impact discrimination may be tantamount 
to evidence of clandestine intentional discrimination 
or it may equate to an unjustified denial of housing 
opportunity, both of which perpetuate racial disad­
vantage in the housing market.3

The City and its amici assert that disparate im­
pact threatens to disrupt the business interests of 
private defendants, see, e.g., Amici Br. of the Indep. 
Cmty. Bankers of Am. et al. [hereinafter “Bankers 
Br.”] at 25-26, and prevents governmental actors 
from advancing the public interest, see generally 
Amicus Br. of Twp. of Mt. Holly, New Jersey [here­
inafter “Mt. Holly Br.”].4 But disparate impact’s

3 Although not at issue in this case and therefore not the fo­
cus of this amicus brief, it is well established that the FHA also 
provides a mechanism to combat another type of discriminatory 
effect that a facially neutral housing practice or policy may 
have — i.e., the effect of creating, perpetuating, or exacerbating 
segregated housing patterns. See 76 Fed. Reg. at 70,923, 
70,926; Graoch Associates #33, L.P. v. Louisville/ 
Jefferson County Metro Human Relations Commission, 508 
F.3d 366, 378 (6th Cir. 2007).

4 The City and its amici further suggest that the mere pos­
sibility of litigation involving disparate-impact claims encour­
ages defendants to adopt practices, such as quotas, that are 
constitutionally suspect. See, e.g., Bankers Br. 26. This is 
nothing more than a red herring. This case does not present 
any constitutional issue. Cf. Ricci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 
2658, 2664-65 (2009).



8

burden-shifting framework is designed to protect 
those policies and practices that are necessary to 
achieve legitimate, non-discriminatory objectives. 
And, as with other kinds of litigation, defendants 
have available to them ample tools to challenge any 
marginal claims. See, e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 12, 56; 
Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano, 131 S. Ct. 
1309 (2011).

A. The threshold showing required at the 
prima facie stage adequately polices the 
boundaries of disparate impact.

As illustrated by the longstanding application of 
the burden-shifting framework in fair housing cases, 
equal employment litigation, see, e.g., Lewis, 130 
S. Ct. 2191; Griggs, 401 U.S. 424, and other contexts, 
see, e.g., Civil Rights Division, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 
Title VI Legal Manual 47-53 (2001), available at 
http ://www. j ustice. gov/crt/about/cor/coor d/vimanual. 
php, disparate impact is feasible. In the Title VII 
context, this Court has made clear that the prima 
facie showing of disparate impact imposes “con­
straints that operate to keep [disparate-impact] 
analysis within its proper bounds.” Watson, 487 U.S. 
at 994. The same rationale applies in the context of 
the Fair Housing Act.

To begin, plaintiffs must trace any adverse effects 
to a specific, identifiable practice.5 See 2922

6 There is one potential exception to this requirement. In 
the Title VII context, if a plaintiff can show that “the elements” 
of a defendant’s overall “decisionmaking process are not capa­
ble of separation for analysis,” then, for purposes of proving 
disparate impact, “the decisionmaking process may be analyzed 
as one . . . practice.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k)(l)(B)(i); see, e.g., 
McClain v. Lufkin Indus., 519 F.3d 264, 278 (5th Cir. 2008).



9

Sherman Ave. Tenants’ Ass’n v. Dist. o f Columbia, 
444 F.3d 673, 681 (D.C. Cir. 2006); U.S. Br. 29. As 
this Court has observed, the plaintiffs obligation to 
identify a specific practice when mounting a dispa- 
rate-impact claim is “not a trivial burden.” Mea- 
cham v. Knolls Atomic Power Lab., 554 U.S. 84, 101 
(2008); cf. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. u. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 
2541, 2555-56 (2011). Because the “requirement has 
bite,” Meacham, 554 U.S. at 100, it “ought to allay” 
the specter of potential defendants being forced to 
alter otherwise legitimate practices to avert mar­
ginal claims, id. at 101.

Beyond identifying a specific practice, plaintiffs 
at the prima facie stage must offer “proof of dispro­
portionate impact.” 2922 Sherman Ave. Tenants’ 
Ass’n, 444 F.3d at 680. As the Eighth Circuit recog­
nized in the instant case, Pet. App. 23a-24a, this 
Court has eschewed a “rigid mathematical formula” 
for the adverse effects showing. Watson, 487 U.S. at 
995. Instead, the Court has expressed a preference 
for a “case-by-case approach” to accommodate the 
“‘infinite variety’” of statistical methods and the real­
ity that the ‘“usefulness [of different methods] de­
pends on all of the surrounding facts and circum­
stances.’” Id. at 995 n.3 (quoting Int’l Bhd. of Team­
sters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 340 (1977)). De­
fendants may utilize a variety of tools to challenge 
the reliability of plaintiffs’ statistical evidence. Id. 
at 996 (describing different methods to refute plain­
tiffs’ data).

A prima facie case may be established “by show­
ing that the challenged practice of the defendant 
‘actually or predictably results in racial discrimina­
tion’ . . . Huntington, 844 F.2d at 934 (quoting



10

Black Jack, 508 F.2d at 1184-85); United States v. 
Yonkers Bd. of Educ., 837 F.2d 1181, 1217 (2d Cir. 
1987); Robinson v. 12 Lofts Realty, Inc., 610 F.2d 
1032, 1036-38 (2d Cir. 1979). In Watson, this Court 
sanctioned in the analogous Title VII context a sta­
tistical showing that raises “an inference of causa­
tion.” 487 U.S. at 995.6 As the Eighth Circuit prop­
erly concluded, no “single document [need] connect[ ] 
the dots.” Pet. App. 20a. Rather, “it is enough that 
each analytic step is reasonable and supported by 
the evidence.” Id. Other courts of appeals have rec­
ognized that inferences may demonstrate a causal 
relationship between the disputed practice and ad­
verse effects on housing opportunities for racial mi­
norities and other groups covered by the FHA. See, 
e.g., Hallmark Developers, Inc. v. Fulton Cnty., 466 
F.3d 1276, 1287 (11th Cir. 2006) (collecting cases); 
Tsombanidis v. W. Haven Fire Dep’t, 352 F.3d 565,

6 The Title VII context provides guidance as to the statisti­
cal showing required at the prima facie stage. In order to es­
tablish a prima facie case of disparate impact, a Title VII plain­
tiff must offer statistical or other empirical evidence that the 
challenged policy disproportionately affects minorities. See, 
e.g., Bradley v. Pizzaco of Neb., Inc., 939 F.2d 610, 612-13 (8th 
Cir. 1991) (plaintiff presented testimony of dermatologists that 
between 25% and 45% of black males were afflicted by pseudo­
folliculitis barbae (“PFB”), while white males rarely suffer from 
PFB or comparable skin disorders; plaintiff also presented mili­
tary studies supporting the conclusion that significant numbers 
of black males with PFB cannot shave). A plaintiff cannot rely 
on conclusory opinions unsupported by statistical or empirical 
evidence. See Antrum v. Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth., 710 
F. Supp. 2d 112, 122-23 (D.D.C. 2010) (plaintiff failed to estab­
lish prima facie case of disparate impact where he relied solely 
on EEOC determination that no-beard policy had a significant 
statistical impact on black males and failed to present evidence 
supporting that conclusion).



11

577 (2d Cir. 2003) (supporting similar causal analy­
sis); Keith v. Volpe, 858 F.2d 467, 484 (9th Cir. 1988) 
(same); Resident Advisory Bd. v. Rizzo, 564 F.2d 126, 
142 (3d Cir. 1977) (same).

For instance, the Third Circuit recently con­
cluded that plaintiffs had provided sufficient evi­
dence of their prima facie case to withstand sum­
mary judgment. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Ac­
tion, Inc. v. Twp. of Mount Holly, 658 F.3d 375, 382 
(3d Cir. 2011). Observing that ‘“ [n]o single test con­
trols,” the court determined that plaintiffs’ statistical 
showing “plausibl[y]” demonstrated that African 
Americans and Latinos residing in the subject 
neighborhood would be disproportionately displaced 
by the township’s redevelopment plan because a 
“vast majority,” id., would not be able to afford the 
proposed market-rate units, id. at 379-80.7 This

7 In its amicus brief, Mount Holly township urges this 
Court to limit disparate-impact claims “to those situations 
where there is evidence of segregative effect.” Mt. Holly Br. 8. 
LDF agrees with Mount Holly insofar as it emphasizes the im­
portance and laudable goal of eradicating segregation. Id. at 6- 
8. Yet, the township sets up a false and dangerous choice be­
tween integration, on the one hand, and the promotion of hous­
ing opportunity by eliminating unjustified and unnecessary 
facially neutral policies that adversely and disproportionately 
affect racial minorities, on the other. The FHA strives to 
eliminate both. Moreover, any conflict that occurs in practice 
between the equally critical governmental goals of promoting 
public health and safety and promoting integration can be rec­
onciled through the second and third prong of the burden- 
shifting test. In fact, Mount Holly acknowledges the utility of 
HUD’s proposed burden-shifting test for protecting the inter­
ests of both plaintiffs and defendants. Mt. Holly Br. 22-23; see 
also 76 Fed. Reg. at 70,922 (“Under the [Fair Housing] Act, 
housing practices — regardless of any discriminatory motive or 
intent — cannot be maintained if they operate to deny protected



12

standard by no means guarantees plaintiffs success 
at the prima facie stage. Courts reject disparate- 
impact claims that fail to provide sufficient evidence, 
through inferences or otherwise, of a causal relation­
ship between the disputed practice and its alleged 
adverse effects. See, e.g., McCauley v. City of Jack­
sonville, 739 F. Supp. 278, 282 (E.D.N.C. 1989) 
(granting summary judgment to municipality due to 
lack of “evidence in the record from which one could 
infer that a significantly higher percentage of . . . 
families [qualified to rent low-income units] would 
have been black”).

The courts of appeals have declined to impose ad­
ditional evidentiary requirements at the initial 
stages of disparate-impact litigation due to the sig­
nificant risk that otherwise deserving claims will be 
dismissed and because defendants’ interests are ade­
quately protected by the prima facie showing re­
quirement and in subsequent stages of the burden- 
shifting framework. In Huntington, for example, the 
Second Circuit rejected the district court’s adoption 
of a four-factor balancing test, see Huntington 
Branch, NAACP v. Town of Huntington, 668 F. 
Supp. 762, 781-82 (E.D.N.Y. 1987) (balancing ad­
verse effects, the defendant’s interest, the nature of 
the requested relief, and proof of intent), at the 
prima facie stage, 844 F.2d at 935, concluding that it 
was too burdensome in light of the expansive pur­
poses of the Fair Housing Act, id. at 936 (observing 
that the FHA’s legislative history “argues persua­

groups equal housing opportunity or they create, perpetuate, or 
increase segregation without a legally sufficient justification.” 
(emphasis added)).



13

sively against so daunting a prima facie standard”). 
The Second Circuit concluded that Huntington’s re­
fusal to amend its zoning ordinance to permit afford­
able housing in a neighborhood that was 98% white 
disproportionately and adversely affected the town’s 
racial minorities. Id. at 938. Analogizing to the 
showing accepted by this Court in Griggs, and using 
an analysis similar to the Eighth Circuit’s approach 
in this case, the Second Circuit inferred a prima fa­
cie case of disparate impact from a series of related 
facts: the town’s minorities were disproportionately 
poor, disproportionately relied on affordable housing, 
and were overrepresented on the waiting list for Sec­
tion 8 certificates. Id. While not “endorsing the 
[Second Circuit’s] precise analysis,” this Court af­
firmed the Second Circuit’s judgment that the Hunt­
ington plaintiff had established its prima facie case. 
Town of Huntington, 488 U.S. at 18 (“ [W]e are 
satisfied on this record that disparate impact was 
shown . . . .”).

To withstand summary judgment, plaintiffs 
therefore need only provide enough material evi­
dence to establish an inference of a causal relation­
ship. As discussed below, see infra Part III, the 
plaintiff landlords (Respondents here) amply satis­
fied this standard.

B. After a prima facie case is established, li­
ability attaches only if the defendant 
fails to justify its policy or if its legiti­
mate objective can be achieved by some 
other less discriminatory means.

Of course, plaintiffs do not necessarily prevail on 
the merits simply by surviving the prima facie stage.



14

Importantly, disparate-impact liability does not at­
tach unless defendants fail to show that the disputed 
policy has a “necessary and manifest relationship to 
a legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest.” 76 Fed. 
Reg. at 70,924, 70,925. If defendants succeed at this 
second stage, plaintiffs must then demonstrate a less 
discriminatory way to achieve the same objective. 
Id.

Therefore, the objections of the City and its amici 
— that they will be precluded from pursuing legiti­
mate business goals, see Bankers’ Br. 2-3, or promot­
ing the public welfare — are unfounded. The FHA’s 
prohibition against disparate-impact discrimination 
does not condemn policies simply because they have 
adverse effects. Rather, it precludes only those poli­
cies that have such adverse effects and that are un­
necessary to the achievement of the defendant’s 
legitimate, non-discriminatory goals. See Graoch 
Associates #33, L.P. v. Louisville/ 
Jefferson County Metro Human Relations Commis­
sion, 508 F.3d 366, 374-75 (6th Cir. 2007) (“Of 
course, not every housing practice that has a dispa­
rate impact is illegal. We use the burden-shifting 
framework described above . . .  to distinguish the ar­
tificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barriers pro­
scribed by the FHA from valid policies and practices 
crafted to advance legitimate interests.”); Mountain 
Side Mobile Estates P ’ship v. Secy of Hous. & Urban 
Dev., 56 F.3d 1243, 1254-57 (10th Cir. 1995) (con­
cluding that disputed occupancy restrictions had “a 
manifest relationship” to legitimate, non- 
discriminatory objective of protecting the sewer ca­
pacity of the mobile park and promoting “quality of 
park life”).



15

Defendants may rebut a prima facie case of dis­
parate impact by demonstrating that the challenged 
practice is justified by a legitimate societal goal, 
such as alleviating blight, see Mt. Holly Gardens 
Citizens in Action, 658 F.3d at 386, or protecting lo­
cal infrastructure, such as sewage systems, see 
Mountain Side, 56 F.3d at 1255-57, or by quality of 
life concerns, such as density, traffic flow, and pedes­
trian safety, see id.

At the third stage of the burden-shifting frame­
work, plaintiffs typically will propose an alternative 
housing plan or practice, which can then be com­
pared to the challenged practice. See, e.g., Mt. Holly 
Gardens Citizens in Action, 658 F,3d at 386-87; Lan- 
glois v. Abington Hous. Auth., 234 F. Supp. 2d 33, 70 
(D. Mass. 2002). The trier of fact must then deter­
mine whether plaintiffs’ proposal is workable and 
furthers defendants’ legitimate goals while reducing 
the disparate effects on the minority group. See Mt. 
Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, 658 F.3d at 387. 
Liability results only if plaintiffs satisfy these re­
quirements.

C. The defendant appropriately bears the 
burden of persuasion at the second stage 
of the burden-shifting inquiry.

The Respondents (plaintiffs below) have conceded 
that code enforcement here serves a legitimate, non- 
discriminatory objective. A ruling on this issue, 
therefore, is unnecessary to the outcome of this liti­
gation. Resp. Br. 29-31. Nonetheless, should the 
Court decide to address this matter, it should allo­
cate to the defendants the burden of demonstrating a 
“necessary and manifest relationship” between the



16

challenged practice and any “legitimate, nondis- 
criminatory interest.” 76 Fed. Reg. at 70,924, 
70,925. As the United States notes, this is “the 
sounder approach,” U.S. Br. 27, because the defen­
dant is uniquely positioned to explain its rationale. 
For example, defendants can point to factors they 
analyzed or relied upon when adopting the policy; 
the problems or harms they sought to remedy; and 
any previous policies they pursued that did not suffi­
ciently address their objectives.8 Because of infor­
mation asymmetries between the plaintiffs and de­
fendants, placing the burden on the plaintiffs at the 
second stage would not be a sensible way to evaluate 
the evidence. As HUD’s proposed rule recognizes, 
the allocation of the burden to defendants at the sec­
ond stage avoids the awkwardness of having to 
“prove a negative.” 76 Fed. Reg. at 70,924 (quoting 
Hispanics United of DuPage Cnty. v. Vill. of Addison, 
988 F. Supp. 1130, 1162 (N.D. 111. 1997)). This 
method of proof serves another useful purpose in fair 
housing cases in particular, where -  unlike in the

8 Cf. H.R. Rep. No. 102-40, pt. 2, at 5 (1991), reprinted in 
1991 U.S.C.C.A.N. 684, 699 (stating, in justification of the pro­
hibition against disparate impact in employment codified in the 
Civil Rights Act of 1991, that “[t]he practical reasons for plac­
ing the burden of proving business necessity on the employer 
are obvious: the employer has control over the employment
process, selects the practices used to make an employment de­
cision, and is more likely to be aware of the relative costs and 
benefits of the practices used and of the alternative practices 
that were not used in making the employment decision. The 
Committee believes that it confounds logic to place on a job ap­
plicant or employee the burden of demonstrating the absence of 
business necessity for a discriminatory employment practice 
when the employer, who selected that practice in the first 
place, has ready access to all of the relevant information.”).



17

Title VII context -  the disputed facially-neutral pol­
icy may be based upon complex considerations and a 
“variety of circumstances.” Huntington, 844 F.2d at 
936-37; see also id. at 936 (“The difficulty . . .  is that 
in Title VIII cases there is no single objective like job 
performance to which the legitimacy of the facially 
neutral rule may be related.”).

Allocating the burden to plaintiffs at the second 
stage also would have limited utility given that they 
bear the burden of proof at the third stage under 
HUD’s proposed rule. 76 Fed. Reg. at 70,924. At 
this last stage, plaintiffs must demonstrate that 
there is a less discriminatory alternative for meeting 
defendants’ same legitimate objectives. Such a 
showing naturally requires some understanding of 
the actual grounds that the defendants relied upon 
when they adopted the policy or practice. Cf. United 
States u. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 535-36 (1996) (dis­
cussing “actual purpose” requirement in context of 
equal protection challenge). Simply permitting de­
fendants to identify any objective after litigation has 
commenced -  without demonstrating its relationship 
to the disputed policy or practice — imposes unneces­
sary and wasteful barriers to the adjudication of dis­
parate-impact claims.

Finally, the City’s reasoning -  that Smith v. City 
of Jackson, 544 U.S. 228 (2005), requires the Court 
to apply Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 
642 (1989), and allocate the burden to plaintiffs at 
the second stage — is flawed. It bears emphasis that, 
as a result of Congress’s enactment of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102-166, 105 Stat. 
1071 (1991) (codified as amended in scattered sec­
tions of 42 U.S.C.), Wards Cove no longer governs



18

the allocation of burdens in the Title VII disparate- 
impact context; instead, claims of disparate impact 
in employment are reviewed using the traditional 
burden-shifting framework developed in Griggs and 
subsequent cases, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k), which 
have been closely followed in judicial interpretations 
of the FHA. Moreover, as this Court subsequently 
made clear in Meacham, although Smith involved 
the applicability of disparate impact to claims under 
the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 
it did not speak to how the burden of proof should be 
allocated in ADEA disparate-impact cases and ap­
plied Wards Cove for only a limited purpose that has 
no bearing in this case. See Meacham, 554 U.S. at 
98 (noting that Smith “made only two specific refer­
ences to aspects of the Wards Cove interpretation of 
Title VII that might have ‘remain[ed] applicable’ in 
ADEA cases”: first, the “existence of disparate im­
pact liability,” and second, the “plaintiff-employee’s 
burden of identifying which particular practices al­
legedly cause an observed disparate impact”). In­
deed, Meacham cautioned against reading its invoca­
tion of Wards Cove to imply the vitality of aspects of 
that opinion “beyond what mattered” in Smith. Id.

II. Building code enforcement can be the sub­
ject of a bona fide disparate-impact claim.
Obviously building code enforcement is impor­

tant, but the City and its amici err in their assertion 
that it should be categorically exempt from dispa­
rate-impact claims. Pet. Br. 54; Amici Br. of the Int’l 
Municipal Lawyers Ass’n et al. at 14-17. The City 
asserts that, if building code enforcement is not ex­
empt from disparate-impact claims, governmental 
defendants might be discouraged from pursuing



19

bona fide objectives that promote public health and 
safety. But the same objection could be lodged to 
preclude challenges to racially exclusionary zoning, 
see, e.g., Huntington, 844 F.2d at 937, or any other 
unlawful enforcement claim — including allegations 
of disparate treatment — on the theory that it might 
deter City officials who are concerned about litiga­
tion from legitimate enforcement activity.

Code enforcement in the disparate-impact context 
should be no more exempt from the FHA than a code 
enforcement claim alleging intentional discrimina­
tion. See, e.g., Amicus Br. of United States, 2922 
Sherman Ave. Tenants’ Assn v. Dist. of Columbia 
(D.D.C. 2004) (No. 00-CV-862), available at
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/documents/amic 
us_sherman.php (asserting selective code enforce­
ment violated FHA’s disparate-impact and dispa- 
rate-treatment prohibitions). Both kinds of claims 
are integral to meeting the objectives of the FHA. 
Indeed, federal regulations specifically require com­
munities that receive federal housing assistance to 
take account of building code enforcement for pur­
poses of local planning and development because of 
its potential to adversely affect the low-income hous­
ing supply. See 24 C.F.R. § 91.210(e) (observing that 
“building codes” may have negative impact on “the 
cost of housing or the incentives to develop, main­
tain, or improve affordable housing”).

In Graoch Associates #33, L.P. v. Louis­
ville/Jefferson County Metro Human Relations 
Commission, the Sixth Circuit declined to exempt 
from disparate-impact liability the refusal of land­
lords to participate in a Section 8 program for low-

http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/documents/amic


20

income tenants. 508 F.3d at 374.9 The court ob­
served, first, that the burden-shifting analysis itself 
helps to “distinguish the artificial, arbitrary, and 
unnecessary barriers proscribed by the FHA from 
valid policies and practices crafted to advance le­
gitimate interests.” Id. at 374-75. Second, it noted 
the absence of any coherent, principled basis for ex­
empting some practices from disparate-impact liabil­
ity while recognizing others.10 Without statutory 
guidance, the Court “lack[s] the authority to evalu­
ate the pros and cons of allowing disparate-impact 
claims challenging a particular housing practice and 
to prohibit claims that [it] believe[s] to be unwise as 
a matter of social policy.” Id. at 375; cf. Meacham, 
554 U.S. at 91-92 (discussing statutory basis for 
“reasonable factor other than age” exemption under 
the ADEA).

Finally, as this Court has repeatedly observed in 
many different contexts, the mere fact that a chal­
lenged practice serves a lawful government objective 
does not necessarily insulate the government from 
liability. If the practice relies on unlawful means or 
the defendant is unable to show that it would have 
made the same decision in the absence of the im­
permissible factor, the defendant may be held liable.

9 Although the Sixth Circuit applied a modified burden- 
shifting analysis, 508 F.3d at 373, its reasoning is instructive.

10 Simply because a practice may not readily lend itself to 
disparate-impact analysis does not mean that it should be cate­
gorically exempt. Cf. Graoch, 508 F.3d at 377 (“The mere fact 
that a landlord often can withdraw from Section 8 without vio­
lating the terms of Section 8 or the FHA does not mean that 
withdrawal from Section 8 never can constitute a violation of 
the FHA.” (emphasis in original)).



21

Cf. Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244, 275 (2003); Mt. 
Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 
U.S. 274, 285 (1977). Thus, in disparate-impact liti­
gation, courts should be similarly well-equipped to 
sort through the competing objectives and considera­
tions at issue through application of the well- 
established, burden-shifting framework.

The United States suggests that the beneficial ef­
fects of code enforcement may provide grounds for 
rejecting a disparate-impact claim at the prima facie 
stage, see U.S. Br. 31, particularly because the “fail­
ure to aggressively enforce a housing code could give 
rise to a disparate-impact claim” under the FHA, id. 
at 32 (emphasis in original). These points conflate 
the purpose of the threshold, prima facie inquiry 
with the objectives of the latter stages of the burden- 
shifting framework. As explained above, see supra 
Part I.B, even after a plaintiff establishes a prima 
facie case, liability does not attach unless that policy 
or practice is determined to have an unjustified, dis­
proportionate adverse impact. Cf. Mt. Holly Gardens 
Citizens in Action, 658 F.3d at 385-86 (finding genu­
ine issue of material fact as to whether less dis­
criminatory alternative exists to defendant’s legiti­
mate goal of “alleviating blight”); Huntington, 844 
F.2d at 937 (“Though a town’s interests in zoning re­
quirements are substantial, they cannot, consis­
tently with Title VIII, automatically outweigh sig­
nificant disparate effects.” (emphasis added)). This 
means that practices that have both beneficial and 
discriminatory effects may still be unlawful if there 
is another, less discriminatory means to accomplish 
the same objective.



22

Consideration of any beneficial effects, therefore, 
belongs at the second and third stages of the burden- 
shifting test, which are intended to address the le­
gitimacy of the defendant’s asserted justification and 
the availability of less discriminatory alternatives. 
Huntington, 844 F.2d at 935 (noting “confusion . . . 
engendered by the tendency of some courts to con­
sider factors normally advanced as part of a defen­
dant’s justification for its challenged action in as­
sessing whether the plaintiff has established a prima 
facie case”); see also Mountain Side, 56 F.3d at 1252 
(observing that “ [i]n the Title VII context, we have 
held that a defendant’s justification for the chal­
lenged action should not be considered in assessing 
the establishment of a prima facie case”). Tracking 
the example offered by the United States, the same 
reasoning would apply to a disparate-impact claim 
challenging a municipality’s selective under­
enforcement of its code: plaintiffs would have to
demonstrate adverse effects at the prima facie stage 
followed by a determination that the policy’s dispa­
rate impact was unjustified at the second and/or 
third stages. The United States errs, therefore, inso­
far as it suggests that a disparate-impact claim can 
be defeated at the prima facie stage simply because 
of some purported benefits of the disputed policy.
III. The Eighth Circuit correctly applied the

burden-shifting test on summary judgment.
Should the Court decide to address whether the 

Eighth Circuit properly applied the burden-shifting 
test -  a matter that the City Petitioners belatedly 
raise in their merits brief, see supra note 2 — it 
should affirm the judgment of the Eighth Circuit. 
Under the application of the burden-shifting frame­



23

work described above, the Respondents (plaintiffs 
below) presented sufficient facts to withstand sum­
mary judgment. The case should be remanded for 
further proceedings on the third-stage, the less- 
discriminatory-alternative prong. Pet. App. 24a-26a.

The City’s constrained reading of the facts runs 
counter to the standards for summary judgment and 
disserves the objectives of disparate impact. As this 
Court is well aware, a court must “look at the record 
and any inferences to be drawn from it in the light 
most favorable to the nonmovant.” Anderson v. Lib­
erty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). “To deny 
one party’s motion for summary judgment . . .  is not 
to grant summary judgment for the other side. . . .” 
Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 533 U.S. 98, 
128-29 (2001) (Breyer, J., concurring). Indeed, the 
City’s “invocation of what is missing from the record 
and its assumptions about what is present in the re­
cord only confirm that both parties, if they so desire, 
should have a fair opportunity to fill the evidentiary 
gap.” Id.

The Respondents satisfied the prima facie show­
ing. They challenged an identifiable, specific policy 
of selective, inflexible code enforcement targeting 
private landlords of low-income housing, Resp. Br. 
14-15 (citing record), consistent with the City’s 
stated mission of “closing down ‘problem properties.’” 
Pet. App. 53a. As the non-moving party, the Re­
spondents presented sufficient facts to establish sig­
nificant adverse racial effects and a strong inference 
of causation between these effects and the selective 
enforcement scheme. According to the Eighth Cir­
cuit, the Respondents offered evidence demonstrat­
ing that the City of St. Paul had a shortage of af­



24

fordable housing at the time this litigation arose. Id. 
at 17a-18a (noting that in 2005 the “City estimated 
that 32% of the households in St. Paul had unmet 
housing needs); Resp. Br. 5-6 (citing record). This 
shortage increased the demand for affordable rental 
options in the private market. See id. at 5 (same). 
There is no question that African Americans in the 
City of St. Paul “make up a disproportionate per­
centage of low-income tenants,” Pet. Br. 7, who were 
concentrated in the City’s inner core, Resp. Br. 6.11

The Eighth Circuit noted evidence in the record 
demonstrating that the City’s selective and unyield­
ing application of its building code against the Re­
spondents increased the costs of maintaining their 
stock of low-income housing. Pet. App. 18a-19a (Re­
spondents “reported a substantial increase in costs, 
resulting in evictions for tenants and ‘forced sales’ of 
their properties in some cases,” allegations that were 
“corroborated by” an internal City memorandum). 
The Eighth Circuit’s description is consistent with 
the Respondents’ expert report, which identified the 
“harsh financial burdens,” the appreciable loss of 
revenue, and the “dramaticf ]” increase in business 
expenses, Resp. Br. 14-15, that resulted from the 
City’s selective enforcement scheme, id. at 15. Due 
to the Respondents’ limited profit margins, id. at 10, 
11, these increased costs, id. at 15, compelled some 
private landlords to sell their properties and others

11 The Respondents note that “[p]recise statistical data on 
the effects of the City’s policy on the minority population are 
unavailable because the City has never produced the data from 
the assessment of impediments to fair housing (including spe­
cifically ‘building codes’) that it was required to create under 
federal law.” Resp. Br. 15 (citations omitted).



25

to “withdraw from the low-income rental market” al­
together, id. at 14-15. This reduction in the avail­
ability of affordable housing predictably lowered the 
supply available to the City’s minority population, 
which disproportionately relied on such housing. See 
id. at 6, 8-15.12 As described in Part I.A supra, the 
Eighth Circuit’s analysis of the prima facie showing 
comported with a common method of showing a dis­
proportionate adverse effect through reasonable in­
ferences.13

12 The impact of increased costs and reduced revenue on a 
preexisting shortage of affordable housing, in the context of the 
Respondents’ tenuous financial circumstances, should be clear 
from a straightforward application of basic economic theory. If 
a policy or practice demonstrably increases the cost of supply­
ing a particular good, it is reasonable to conclude that less of 
that good will be supplied, particularly where (as here, appar­
ently) the profit margins are slim. See Resp. Br. 10-12; cf. Duke 
Power Co. v. Carolina Envt’l Study Grp., Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 75- 
77 (1978) (noting that, if statutory limitation on liability were 
lifted, developers of nuclear power would withdraw from mar­
ket).

13 The City Petitioners assert that “some of [the Respon­
dents’] properties with African-American tenants were not sub­
ject to what they considered illegal code enforcement, and that 
some of their properties which were subject to code enforcement 
were either vacant or occupied by white tenants.” Pet. Br. 6. 
Such facts, if true, are immaterial for purposes of summary 
judgment. Disparate impact does not require that all African 
Americans in St. Paul must be adversely affected by the selec­
tive application of the City’s housing code to private landlords 
of affordable housing -  only that they be disproportionately 
(and unnecessarily) affected as members of a covered group. 
Indeed, if all African Americans were adversely affected, it 
might be more suggestive of a pattern or practice of disparate 
treatment than disparate impact. Cf. Inti Bhd. of Teamsters, 
431 U.S. at 342 n.23.



26

The Court need not rule on the second-stage of 
the burden-shifting test. According to the court of 
appeals, the Respondents conceded that enforcement 
of the City’s housing code had “a manifest relation­
ship to legitimate, non-discriminatory objectives,” 
Resp. Br. 19, obviating the need for any showing by 
the City at this stage.

That leaves only the third stage of the burden- 
shifting test -  whether the Respondents demon­
strated that the City’s “legitimate nondiscriminatory 
interests,” here the promotion of the public welfare, 
could be “served by a policy or decision that produces 
a less discriminatory effect.” 76 Fed. Reg. at 70,924. 
The Respondents argued that the City’s former hous­
ing code enforcement program, “Problem Properties 
2000” (“PP2000”), could achieve the same objectives. 
Pet. App. 24a-25a.

According to the Eighth Circuit, the Respondents 
identified a report prepared by the City indicating 
that PP2000 was a workable alternative to the City’s 
policy of selectively enforcing its housing code 
against private landlords of low-income housing, a 
conclusion that apparently was “corroborated by” 
code enforcement officials. Id. at 25a. The City 
countered by asserting that PP2000 would not alle­
viate the demonstrated adverse effects because the 
landlords would still be subject to the existing hous­
ing code and, therefore, their costs of compliance 
would still be the same. Id. at 26a.

But as the Eighth Circuit pointed out, the City’s 
assertion neglected an important component of the 
Respondents’ claim, which was that the selective and 
inflexible application of the City’s code enforcement



27

policy increased their costs of doing business and re­
duced their revenue, id., factors that were not an is­
sue under the more conciliatory PP2000 program. 
Because of the Respondents’ limited profit margins, 
the City’s unyielding scheme led them or forced them 
out of the affordable housing market, thereby reduc­
ing the affordable housing supply. Id. Construing 
the facts in the light most favorable to the Respon­
dents, as it was required to do for non-movants on 
summary judgment,14 the Eighth Circuit reasonably 
concluded that the Respondents had created a genu­
ine dispute of material fact regarding whether 
PP2000 was a “viable alternative” to the City’s con- 
cededly legitimate health and public safety goals. 
Accordingly, it determined that “summary judgment 
was improper as to [the Respondents’] disparate im­

14 The United States asserts that “[t]he [Eighth Circuit] 
identified no evidence that it would be feasible to apply 
[PP2000] on a far broader scale as an overall approach for en­
forcing the housing code.” U.S. Br. 32. But this misconceives 
the nature of the inquiry on summary judgment. As the mov­
ing party, the City -  not the Respondents -  bore the “initial re­
sponsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its 
motion,” and identifying “those portions of [the record] which it 
believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material 
fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). This 
required initial showing necessarily frames the summary judg­
ment inquiry and the non-moving party’s response. The Eighth 
Circuit concluded that the City failed to meet this standard be­
cause it, inter alia, did not argue that PP2000 would “fail to 
accomplish the objectives of Housing Code enforcement.” Pet. 
App. 26a. In sum, the Respondents were not required to pre­
sent evidence that PP2000 would work on a “far broader scale” 
because the City (apparently) failed to present evidence in the 
first instance that the Respondents’ proffered alternative was 
comparatively ineffective.



28

pact claim” and remanded for further proceedings. 
Id.

LDF takes no position as to whether the Respon­
dents will, or should, ultimately prevail on their dis­
parate-impact claim. But, the Eighth Circuit s 
judgment was assuredly correct. Under the worka­
ble and well-established burden-shifting framework 
and, viewing the record in the light most favorable to 
the Respondents, there are genuine issues of mate­
rial fact that preclude summary judgment in favor of 
the City.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, if the Court reaches 
the questions presented in this case, it should affirm 
the judgment of the Eighth Circuit.

Respectfully submitted,
J o h n  Pa y t o n  

Director-Counsel 
DEBO P. ADEGBILE 
El is e  C. B o d d ie  

Counsel of Record 
R eN ik a  C. M o o r e  
R y a n  D o w n e r  
R i a A. Ta b a c c o  
NAACP L e g a l  D e fe n se  & 

E d u c a t io n a l  Fu n d , In c . 
99 Hudson St., 16th Floor 
New York, NY 10013 
(212) 965-2200 
eboddie@naacpldf.org

mailto:eboddie@naacpldf.org


29

J o s h u a  C iv in  
NAACP L e g a l  D e fe n se  & 

Ed u c a t io n a l  Fu n d , In c . 
1444 I St., NW, 10th Floor 
Washington, DC 20005

Counsel for Amicus Curiae

January 30, 2012