Since Indiana legislators provide few protections for renters, Indianapolis officials must
It looked like Congresswoman Cori Bush had no power.
It was late July 2021, and the Biden administration had allowed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control moratorium on evictions to expire.
Rep. Bush knew how damaging that decision was. She herself had been evicted three times and had slept with her family in their car for several months. But, as a first-term Congresswoman from St. Louis, she did not control the votes to pass an extension of the moratorium.
She could have simply issued a press release criticizing the decision, shook her head in disappointment and moved on.
Rep. Bush did not move on. What she did instead provides an important lesson for Indianapolis lawmakers.
She went to the steps of the Capitol, wrapped herself in a bright orange sleeping bag, and refused to leave until the president took action. Media outlets covered her protest. Others began to join her, including congressional colleagues. For four days, they sat in round-the-clock, ramping up the public pressure. Finally, the Biden administration relented and renewed the moratorium.
It turns out Cori Bush had some power after all.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the moratorium three months later. But I can attest from first-hand experience in our local eviction courts that Rep. Bush’s actions to extend the block on evictions kept tens of thousands of vulnerable families housed. Given the well-demonstrated disastrous impact that evictions have on health and security, she undoubtedly saved lives, too.
Evictions in Indianapolis: I took my law class to eviction court to help poor residents. The lessons were brutal.
Rep. Bush’s persistence should be a model for the candidates running for Indianapolis mayor and city-county council. Because any ambitious plans the eventual winners have to improve our community will soon be reduced to dust in the wind unless they stand up to state legislators who are hellbent on crushing our rights to decide how our communities should be run.
I am talking about preemption laws. For years, our state legislature, dominated by white Republicans, has been clapping the policy-making handcuffs on large Indiana cities, usually led by Democrats who represent far more persons of color than the legislative majority does.
The Indiana General Assembly has blocked Indianapolis and other large cities from passing laws on critical issues like gun violence, employee rights, environmental protections, and tobacco regulation.
As for housing, the crisis my students and I work on, cities across the nation are leading the way in protecting those who struggle to stay safely housed. Not here. State legislators moved aggressively to squash even modest protections Indiana cities might provide to protect tenants from retaliation, rent price-gouging and exploitation by out-of-state corporate landlords.
Our local leaders’ response to the trampling on their constituents’ rights has been quiet. Too quiet. They seem to believe they have no power to resist.
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Rep. Cori Bush would beg to differ.
The candidates who win this next round of local elections should commit to standing up and defending the rights of their constituents. Or, if necessary, go beyond just standing up. They could follow Rep. Bush’s lead and head to the state Capitol, shine a bright light on this injustice, and refuse to leave until it is fixed.
Fran Quigley is a law professor at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law and Health and Human Rights Clinic director.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis' eviction rate is too high; renters need protections
