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State Constitutional Law Case Study

Decent Essays
a. State Constitutional Law: The New York City Experience This reading outlines the evolution of housing rights in New York City – beginning with “skid row” populations. Lawyers had to first persuade courts that the government first had an obligation to provide shelter before standards of shelter could be addressed. McCain v. Koch was an important case because in its holding, the court upheld the trial court’s injunction that the shelters had to meet certain standards. Litigation allowed the government to be held accountable for due process infractions, which paved the way for a shift from shelter to housing. In addition, state constitutions could be held to more expansive housing rights. For example, the article mentions Article XVII of the New York State Constitution. The other way the article details to move from the right to shelter to the right to housing is by requiring that part of the right to shelter is assistance in finding permanent housing. This transition was partially enabled by the settlement negotiations of McCain, which required the city to provide grants for security deposits and storage fees, as well brokers’ fees. The…show more content…
Section 26 at least put an obligation on the state to not prevent the right to housing. In addition, it puts a non-absolute obligation on the state to devise a plan to meet the terms of subsection (2) which is defined by three elements: obligation to take reasonable legislative and other measures, the achieve the progressive realization of the right and, within available means. Reasonable legislation had to be determined by a court in terms of its formation and implementation. Progressive realization meant that this could not be implemented immediately. The language of the third element meant that the first two elements were governed by its resources. The court held the national government bore
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