Davis v. New York City Housing Authority
| Citation | 166 F.3d 432 |
| Decision Date | 22 January 1999 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 97-9006 |
| Parties | Pauline DAVIS & Cynthia Williams, Plaintiffs-Appellees, Blanca Iris Hernandez, Gina Campbell, and Jeannette Vargas, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Intervenors-Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit) |
Henry Schoenfeld, New York, NY (New York City Housing Authority, New York, NY), for Defendant-Appellant.
Scott A. Rosenberg, New York, NY (The Legal Aid Society, Civil Appeals and Law Reform Unit, New York, NY), for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
BEFORE: PARKER and SACK, Circuit Judges, and SEAR, Chief Judge. *
I. BACKGROUND
On July 1, 1992, plaintiffs, Latino and African American individuals residing in or eligible for New York City Housing Authority ("NYCHA") housing ("the Davis plaintiffs"), the United States, and NYCHA signed a Consent Decree to resolve two actions alleging that NYCHA had engaged in discrimination in the selection and assignment of public housing tenants in violation of various federal statutes. 1 The Decree provides, inter alia, for: (1) injunctive relief barring future housing discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin; (2) the implementation of a new Tenant Selection and Assignment Plan ("TSAP") that substantially revises NYCHA's tenant selection and assignment systems and which prohibits further discrimination; (3) remedial relief for approximately 2,000 Latinos and African Americans who were denied public housing between 1985 and 1990 based on race; and (4) significant record keeping and reporting by NYCHA concerning tenant selection and assignment practices. 2
The TSAP created under the Decree and currently in place incorporates a three-stage process for selecting applicants for vacancies in NYCHA housing. During the first stage, applicants are selected for eligibility interviews from an applicant pool. NYCHA assigns priority codes to each application, based on various federal priorities 3 and local preferences. Applicants with a certain priority code are then interviewed, at which time they are asked to state their preference as to a borough or project. Typically, approximately 15% of applicants reach the interview stage.
The second stage of the process entails placing interviewed individuals on waiting lists for vacancies.
During the final stage, applicants on waiting lists are chosen to fill vacancies as they arise. In order to achieve an income mix, the primary consideration in selecting tenants is the applicant's "income tier." Tier I families have the lowest incomes, while Tier III families have the highest incomes. Under the current TSAP, NYCHA attempts to rent 25% of all vacancies to Tier III families, 37.5% to Tier II families and 37.5% to Tier I families.
The selection protocol currently used to achieve this income mix is as follows: the first vacancy is offered to the Tier III applicant with the highest priority (e.g. local and federal priorities) and oldest date of certification; the second vacancy is offered to the Tier II applicant with the highest priority and oldest date of certification; the third vacancy is offered to the Tier I applicant with the highest priority and oldest date of certification; and the sequence is repeated until 25% of the expected annual vacancies are filled with Tier III families, then the remaining vacancies are available only for Tier I and II applicants.
Ten years ago, nearly half of all families living in NYCHA developments were working families, whereas today fewer than one third are employed. It is undisputed that unless a higher proportion of applicants with higher incomes receive rentals, the stability of the projects will be jeopardized. In 1995 NYCHA proposed to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") two changes to the TSAP: (1) implementation of a preference for working families and (2) extension to larger families a limited choice of the project as opposed to the borough in which they wish to reside. Only the first change, the "working family preference," is at issue in these proceedings.
NYCHA proposed implementing the working family preference through the TSAP as follows: first, NYCHA would use all of its local preferences (up to 50% of all rentals) to give first priority to Tier III families, second priority to Tier II families, and last priority to Tier I working or disabled families. Second, for those who already qualify for federal preferences, NYCHA would provide another priority to working families.
On November 15, 1996, the Davis plaintiffs filed a motion in district court to enjoin NYCHA from implementing the proposed changes to the TSAP. Over the next six months, Judge Sweet accepted numerous written submissions from the parties and, on one occasion, heard oral argument. By Opinion and Order dated July 17, 1997, Judge Sweet permitted NYCHA to implement the "project choice" modification to the TSAP, but enjoined NYCHA from implementing the working family preference. Davis v. New York City Housing Authority, 1997 WL 407250 (S.D.N.Y. July 18, 1997) (Sweet, J.). Judge Sweet rejected plaintiffs' argument that the working family preference as proposed by defendant would have a disparate impact on plaintiffs, but found that it was likely that plaintiffs could show that the plan would perpetuate segregation at 11 developments, and therefore enjoined implementation of the preference at all 322 NYCHA developments. Id. at * 12.
NYCHA filed a notice of appeal and moved for reconsideration in district court. On November 13, 1997, Judge Sweet denied NYCHA's motion on grounds that the arguments were not properly advanced on reconsideration, but narrowed the prior ruling to enjoin the working family preference at only 21 NYCHA developments, at which white families currently constitute more than 30% of the tenant population. Davis v. New York City Housing Authority, 1997 WL 711360 (S.D.N.Y. November 13, 1997) (Sweet, J.). NYCHA filed another notice of appeal.
On appeal, NYCHA seeks to overturn the preliminary injunction on various grounds, including that the court's findings on the issue of perpetuation of segregation were vague, conclusory and unsupported.
II. DISCUSSION
We review for abuse of discretion a district court's grant of a preliminary injunction. Suffolk Parents of Handicapped Adults v. Wingate, 101 F.3d 818, 822 (2d Cir.1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1239, 117 S.Ct. 1843, 137 L.Ed.2d 1047 (1997). However, we turn first to NYCHA's contention that the preliminary injunction is procedurally flawed, that is, that the finding regarding perpetuation of segregation lacked sufficient detail to serve as a basis for reasoned appellate review.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a) requires that in granting or refusing interlocutory injunctions, the court shall set forth the findings of fact and conclusions of law which constitute the grounds of its action. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a); Inverness Corp. v. Whitehall Laboratories, 819 F.2d 48, 49 (2d Cir.1987). The rule serves several purposes. First, it aids the appellate court in understanding the ground or basis for the trial court's decision. Id. (citations omitted). "It is of the highest importance to a proper review of the action of a court in granting or refusing a preliminary injunction that there should be fair compliance with Rule 52(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure." Mayo v. Lakeland Highlands Canning Co., 309 U.S. 310, 316, 60 S.Ct. 517, 520, 84 L.Ed. 774 (1940).
Second, the rule encourages the trial judge to ascertain the facts with due care and render a decision in accord with the evidence and the law. Inverness, 819 F.2d at 50. What is adequate to serve these two purposes depends on the importance of an issue, its complexity, the depth and nature of the evidence presented, and similar elements that may vary from case to case. See Kelley v. Everglades Drainage Dist., 319 U.S. 415, 420-22, 63 S.Ct. 1141, 1144-45, 87 L.Ed. 1485 (1943); Knapp Shoes, Inc.v. Sylvania Shoe Manufacturing Corp., 15 F.3d 1222, 1228-29 (1st Cir.1994); 9A Charles A. Wright and Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2579 (2d. ed.1995).
In finding that it was likely that plaintiffs would be able to show that the proposed TSAP would have a discriminatory effect by perpetuating segregation in NYCHA developments, Judge Sweet first outlined the record evidence of a history of segregation. Davis v. NYCHA, 1997 WL 407250 at * 11. He then defined segregation in public housing as existing "if housing projects are significantly out of racial balance," or "predominantly white," and noted that under the current TSAP, projects are considered racially imbalanced if "more than 30% white." Id. at * 12. He then found that eleven NYCHA projects remained over 50% white and were out of racial balance due to past segregation. Id. Finally, he found that the proposed TSAP would perpetuate segregation at certain NYCHA developments. Id. It is this ultimate finding that defendant attacks as insufficient.
In the challenged portion of his Opinion, Judge Sweet found that
assuming that existing turnover and move-in rates persist and that for each vacancy set aside for claimants under the Davis decree, a family of color would replace a white family, implementation of the Working Family Preference would effectively "freeze" the desegregation process at the racially identifiable projects, in violation of Title VIII. Specifically, the Working Family Preference would reverse the desegregation process at four of the eleven majority-white projects, there would be no further desegregation at another four, and desegregation would be slowed significantly at three other projects.... [It] will have this effect because it will more than double white admission rates and because existing trends demonstrate that many of these additional white families will be...
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