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69 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 505 (1993-1994)
Clean Sweep or Witch Hunt: Constitutional Issues in Chicago's Public Housing Sweeps

handle is hein.journals/chknt69 and id is 523 raw text is: CLEAN SWEEP OR WITCH HUNT?: CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES IN CHICAGO'S PUBLIC HOUSING SWEEPS DAVID E.B. SMITH* INTRODUCTION Describing life in America's public housing projects as hell' or Beirut U.S.A.'2 trivializes a desperately tragic situation.3 Random gunfire and violent death are part of each child's education. Mothers struggle to feed their children on the meager proceeds from welfare checks or low-paying jobs. Alcohol and drug use and the associated crime flourish. The buildings themselves crumble and decay from years of neglect and bureaucratic ineptitude. Those who can escape do, leaving behind in their wake an increasingly disadvantaged and deprived underclass.4 The projects are increasingly seen as some other America, isolated from and feared by the rest of the nation. In 1988 the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA or Authority) instituted a new program5 intended to regain control of Chicago's * I am grateful to Professor David Thomas for his encouragement and patience during the development of this Note. The editorial contributions of J. Russell McFarlane and Kathleen J. Getty were invaluable: thanks to Rusty for disbelieving all my arguments and encouraging me to convince you, and thanks to Kathy for having the patience and initiative that I lacked. The 1992-93 staff and editors of the Chicago-Kent Law Review will never adequately receive the honor they deserve for their perseverance in the face of an overwhelming task. I will always be inspired by their dedication and grateful for their accomplishments in turning adversity into success. For their leadership and for the camaraderie we shared, I extend special praise to my fellow board members: Steve, Lesa, Ana, Shawn, Mary, and Mark. But most of all, thanks to Sally for her immeasurable tolerance, infinite patience, and unwavering support over the past four years. 1. Camilo C. Vergara, Hell in a Very Tall Place; Conditions in New York City Public Hous- ing Projects, THE ATLANTIC, Sept. 1989, at 72. But see Zay N. Smith, In a World of Death, Kids Sing About 'Living in Hell', CHI. SUN-TIMES, Oct. 18, 1992, at 29 (describing Cabrini-Green children's song Living Here Is Like Living In Hell). 2. Thomas Moore et al., Dead Zones, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REP., Apr. 10, 1989, at 20. 3. For a moving account of two boys struggling to grow up in Chicago's Henry Homer Homes, see ALEX KoTLowrrz, THERE ARE No CHILDREN HERE (1991). For a historical and sociological account of movement from Mississippi sharecropping farms to Chicago ghettos, in- cluding the Robert Taylor Homes, see NICHOLAS LEMANN, THE PROMISED LAND (1991). 4. See WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, THE TRULY DISADVANTAGED (1987), for a candid and nondogmatic exploration of the social trauma of the inner city. 5. The idea, however, is not so new. In the 1960s, welfare officials conducted mass night- time or early morning raids on the homes of welfare recipients in hopes of discovering an unau- thorized man in the house. See Charles A. Reich, Midnight Welfare Searches and the Social Security Act, 72 YALE L.J. 1347 (1963); see also Parrish v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 425 P.2d 223 (Cal. 1967) (social worker seeking reinstatement after being discharged for refusing to participate in Operation Bedcheck raids).

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