We reached a settlement of our Fair Housing Act case regarding Housing Choice Voucher renters
The Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania (“HEC”)--our client in a Fair Housing Act case filed December 8 regarding the treatment of Housing Choice Voucher renters--and Pro-Managed LLC are pleased to announce the amicable resolution of their dispute. They issued the following joint statement on January 3, 2023:

HEC filed a charge against Pro-Managed LLC with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (“PCHR”) for violating the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance (“FPO”), which prohibits discrimination based on the source of income, including housing assistance programs. HEC also filed a complaint against Pro-Managed LLC in the federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that Pro-Managed’s policy and practice of refusing to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (also known as “Section 8 Vouchers”) in predominantly white neighborhoods while advertising that they accept them in majority Black neighborhoods disparately treats and disparately impacts prospective Black renters in violation of the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”).

Almost immediately after HEC filed its charge and complaint, the parties reached a settlement agreement to address the concerns raised by HEC. Pro-Managed LLC, its owners, and related entities admitted that their policy and practice violated the FPO and FHA and agreed to advertise that they accept and encourage the use of Housing Choice Vouchers at all of their rental portfolio properties. They also agreed to adopt written policies regarding compliance with applicable federal and local fair housing laws and to receive training from HEC on the FPO and FHA.

“The widespread barriers and bias faced by Housing Choice Voucher holders deepens Philadelphia’s affordable housing crisis,” said staff attorney Sari Bernstein of the Public Interest Law Center, which represented HEC in both matters. “Pro-Managed should be commended for taking meaningful and prompt action to comply with the letter and spirit of local and federal fair housing laws, and for providing greater opportunities for Philadelphia renters who receive housing assistance.”

“Thanks to the Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania, we were made aware of an unintended consequence surrounding our Housing Choice Voucher policy,” said a representative of Pro-Managed. “As a team of native Philadelphians, we never intended to exclude our neighbors from the affordable housing they deserve. The intervention of the HEC allowed us to improve our policies and reminded us of the importance of continued education and training. We’re happy to accept Housing Choice Vouchers for all our properties and are excited to continue welcoming families to their new homes.”

The settlement was covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer and WHYY.
Our fight against state Firearm Preemption Laws continues. We filed a brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
On January 31, we filed a reply brief in our appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in our case taking on Pennsylvania’s state Firearm Preemption Laws, which prevent cities like Philadelphia or any other municipality from enacting their own local gun laws that have been demonstrated to save lives. We now await a scheduling order for oral argument at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. 

By handcuffing cities and preventing them from taking common-sense action that voters demand (such as limiting gun purchases to one per month), all while refusing to consider statewide measures to promote gun safety, our leaders in the General Assembly are violating the fundamental right to life and liberty for Pennsylvanians in communities that face endemic gun violence. This crisis disproportionately impacts low-income and minority communities—in 2022, 77% of shooting victims in Philadelphia were Black. We filed our case in October 2020 to take on this public health and civil rights crisis. 

We are asking the court to reverse the Commonwealth Court’s dismissal of our case in a plurality decision and to send the case back to the lower court for trial. Read the briefs from respondents opposing our appeal--legislative leaders and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania—here, under “Appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.” 

Along with co-counsel from Hogan Lovells, we are representing residents of Philadelphia and Allegheny County who have lost family members to gun violence and CeaseFirePA, joined as petitioners by the City of Philadelphia.  

“Respondents do not, and cannot, dispute the enormity and disproportionality of the gun violence in Petitioners’ neighborhoods,” our brief reads. “Nor do Respondents seriously dispute that they have handcuffed police in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, forbidding enforcement of any local limits on firearms.” Read more about the case here. 
We continue to await a decision in the Pennsylvania school funding lawsuit
We continue to await a decision from Commonwealth Court, which could come at any time, in our case challenging the Pennsylvania General Assembly's failure to provide sufficient state funding to public schools in low-wealth communities across the commonwealth. Court proceedings in the case concluded July 26, 2022 with post-trial oral argument.

We are hopeful that a decision will declare Pennsylvania's current two-tiered system of public education, divided by local wealth, unconstitutional, and charge our state legislature to live up to their fundamental responsibility to ensure that children in every community can receive a high quality public education.

Law Center attorneys and our partners at the Education Law Center were featured in recent stories on the current status of the case in WHYY and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The judge “not only has to rule whether we proved our case factually” but also the legal meaning, Law Center staff attorney Claudia De Palma told the Post-Gazette. “She has to make decisions on what the constitution requires and whether it meets that threshold.”
Court orders records to be opened in our School District of Philadelphia Right-to-Know Case
On January 13, the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas agreed with us that documents showing how the School District of Philadelphia developed and implemented its new school-selection system for magnet schools must be released under Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law.

In 2022, our client Laurie Mazer, who is a mother of two children enrolled in the School District of Philadelphia and a community activist who advocates for a more equitable public education system, filed a public records request seeking information about the development of the new school-selection system. After the School District released heavily redacted documents from its conversations with external private consultants, we represented Ms. Mazer before the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR), which ordered the District to produce un-redacted copies.

The School District then filed an appeal with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. After briefing and oral argument, the Court affirmed OOR’s opinion, as we had advocated. The District has until February 13, 2022 either to release the documents without redactions or to file an appeal to Commonwealth Court. 
Op-ed: DeFoor’s clumsy audit papered over the truth about school districts’ finances
In a February 1 op-ed for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters PA, laid out the facts about school district finances, the use of fund balances, and the many budgetary pressures that public schools face with woefully insufficient help from the state of Pennsylvania.

She wrote in response to a January 25 report from Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor that painted an incomplete and ultimately misleading picture of school district budget practices that are legal, standard, fiscally responsible, and transparently executed in public meetings with extensive public documentation. 

“It should not come as a surprise to anyone that school districts put money into fund balances,” Spicka writes. “In fact, it’s standard business practice to hold 5% to 10% of operating budget in reserve.”

She notes that since 2016, the Pennsylvania legislature has provided no reimbursement for school district construction and renovation costs.

“School districts are forced to scrimp and save money if they hope to be able to replace leaky roofs, remove lead and asbestos, update ventilation systems, and take care of literally every single other facility need they face.”