Fair Housing
Richmond Law professor’s book gives a ‘holistic’ look at fair housing
When Richmond Law professor Carol Brown talks about Housing Discrimination — the new book she co-authored with veteran fair housing attorney Sarah Pratt — she doesn’t start with doctrine, statutes, or case law.
She starts with the work.
“It was a real labor of love,” Brown says. “A heavy lift, but well worth it.”
That sense of purpose runs throughout the volume published by LexisNexis as part of its Civil Rights and Strategy Series. Housing Discrimination represents the convergence of two careers dedicated to advancing fair housing: Brown’s scholarship and Pratt’s decades of enforcement experience at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“It drives home the importance of stepping out of the ivory tower and actually managing a case, a dispute, making important decisions, and how to do it.”
The pair set out to create something that neither theory nor practice alone could provide, a resource that helps readers understand not only what the law says, but how it works in the real world.
For Brown, fair housing remains one of the nation’s most consequential civil rights issues, but also one of its most complex and rapidly evolving areas of law.
“We came together on this project in an effort to elevate the discussion,” Brown says, “to think about what is to come and to tackle some of its complexities.”
The result is a book that reaches beyond a traditional legal treatise. Brown and Pratt take what Brown describes as a “holistic and comprehensive approach” beyond the federal Fair Housing Act.
“We cover the doctrine, the law, and the theory,” she says. “But then we have practice pointers to help make it all applicable. It drives home the importance of stepping out of the ivory tower and actually managing a case, a dispute, making important decisions, and how to do it.”
Housing Discrimination covers a broad scope: Disability accommodations, sex discrimination, affordable housing, zoning disputes, homeowners’ associations, insurance practices — and that breadth is intentional.
“We are speaking to lawyers at both ends of the spectrum,” Brown says. “[No matter] where you are, you’ll find valuable doctrine and theory, as well as practical applications for yourself and for your clients.”
The book reflects a philosophy that has long guided Brown’s work: The law matters most when it connects ideas to action — when expertise can help improve people’s lives.