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UPDATE (6/15/22): The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Minnesota have settled a lawsuit with the city of Faribault over its unconstitutional and discriminatory housing rental ordinance. The $685,000 settlement includes reforms designed to end discrimination in housing and can provide a model to help strike down similar discriminatory housing programs in cities across the country.

Faribault, Minnesota, is a small city about an hour鈥檚 drive from Minneapolis. It has a landmarked, historic downtown and a wool mill that鈥檚 been in operation since 1865. But in the 21st century, Faribault is changing.

In 2000, Black people made up less than 3 percent of Faribault鈥檚 population. By 2016, Faribault was more than 9 percent Black. Faribault鈥檚 growing Somali community has been the source of much of this shift. By 2016, there were 10 times more people of Somali ancestry in Faribault than there had been in 2000. But non-immigrant Black Minnesotans are discovering Faribault 鈥� with its good employment opportunities and low cost of living 鈥� too.

Our client Thelma Jones is one of them. Thelma moved to Faribault 10 years ago because it seemed like a safe and peaceful environment to raise her family. She worked hard as a home health aide and certified nursing assistant, and in Faribault, she was eventually able to move to a house big enough for her three teenage kids and the younger children she was raising. It also had a yard for birthday parties and barbecues.

But Thelma and her family got evicted from their home because of Faribault鈥檚 Rental Licensing Ordinance and its so-called Crime Free Housing Program, which we and the ACLU of Minnesota are challenging today in federal court. Harassing calls to the police from Thelma鈥檚 white neighbors had brought the police to her home many times, like when her kids were jumping on the trampoline or when a group of Black teenagers was standing in her yard.

One neighbor even told Thelma to her face that Thelma should 鈥済o back where she came from.鈥� In response, the police labelled Thelma and her family 鈥減roblem tenants.鈥� They threatened Thelma鈥檚 landlord with criminal prosecution under the ordinance unless she kicked Thelma and her family out. In a matter of months, Thelma鈥檚 family lost their home.

So, what is this ordinance? As the demographics of Faribault were changing, the city council passed a measure to give police more power over tenants in rental housing, ostensibly to contain crime and control 鈥渓oitering.鈥� Except there had been no rise in crime. And loitering was just called standing on the sidewalk before it was people with Black skin doing it. The ordinance was a discriminatory solution to problems that did not exist.

Learn more about the case

And it鈥檚 no coincidence, given its discriminatory purpose, that the ordinance targets rental housing. Ninety percent of Faribault鈥檚 Black residents rent their homes, as compared to just 28 percentof white residents. Around the country, as people of color are increasingly , we鈥檝e seen a spate of these ordinances targeting renters for extra policing and extra scrutiny. Renters, disproportionately people of color, are stereotyped as likely to commit crime.

Faribault鈥檚 so-called 鈥淐rime-Free Housing Program鈥� follows a model for policing rental housing created by the Arizona-based International Crime Free Association, which is used in hundreds of jurisdictions across the country. The program requires landlords to include language in every lease making any instance of 鈥渃riminal activity,鈥� defined very broadly, a justification for evicting the tenant. In Faribault, police can tell landlords to evict a household because they suspect someone in it engaged in even minor criminal activity, even if the person is not prosecuted and even if they are found not guilty in a criminal case. This gives police tremendous power over tenants鈥� lives.

The program also requires landlords to perform criminal records screening on potential tenants and instructs landlords to refuse to rent to them on the basis of criminal convictions, even for minor crimes. Given the radical racial disparities in the criminal justice system, this kind of blanket policy also amounts to racial discrimination, in . Savannah, Georgia, had a similar program, and when we pointed out its illegality there, Savannah the program. We hope Faribault will do the same.

Local governments should embrace diversity as a sign and a source of strength 鈥� especially when new arrivals are doing the jobs that fuel the local economy. But they certainly can鈥檛 put up barriers to keep people of color out. Both the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act make Faribault鈥檚 ordinance illegal, and we鈥檒l keep fighting until Thelma and her family have the same opportunity as everyone else to live in Faribault.