California city agrees to end discriminatory housing policy

BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal civil rights prosecutors say a Southern California city has agreed to end a discriminatory housing program aimed at evicting criminals. The settlement announced Wednesday says Hesperia, San Bernardino County and its sheriff’s department violated the Fair Housing Act by engaging in a pattern and practice of discrimination to drive Black people and Latinos from the high desert city. The city, county and the sheriff’s department denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay $1 million. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke says the settlement should send a message to an estimated 2,000 cities nationwide that have so-called “crime-free” housing policies in place that are often discriminatory.