FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1997                          (202) 305-3327
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
   JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES SUIT AGAINST CITY OF MILWAUKEE TO
           PROTECT HOUSING RIGHTS OF NATIVE AMERICANS
                                
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today sued the
city of Milwaukee for allegedly violating the federal Fair
Housing Act by blocking the construction of a senior citizen
facility because it would primarily serve American Indians.

     According to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in
Milwaukee, the city refused to grant a permit that would have
allowed non-profit groups to build a facility to house and serve
elderly American Indians.  The complaint alleged that the city
denied the permit in order to prevent American Indians from
residing within its boundaries. 

     "While cities have a right to control their local zoning,
they cannot allow their zoning decisions to be influenced by
racial bias,"  said Isabelle Katz Pinzler, Acting Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights.

     The Indian Council of the Elderly, Inc., a nonprofit
organization dedicated to serving the American Indian community
of Greater Milwaukee, entered into a contract to purchase a lot
at 60th Street and Howard Avenue in southwest Milwaukee.  The
group, along with the School Sisters of St. Francis, and the
Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, intended to build and operate a
new 49-unit housing complex and meal site for elderly American
Indians and other senior citizens.  The Indian Council requested
a zoning variance from the city to develop the housing.

     In April, 1994, the City Planning Commission unanimously
approved the Indian Council's site proposal as meeting all
applicable technical requirements.  However, the following month,
the Milwaukee Common Council, which makes the final decision on
zoning matters, denied the groups' request.
  
     The suit seeks to require the city to allow the Indian
Council and its partners to construct the senior center on the
originally proposed site.  It also asks the court for monetary
damages and civil penalties.   
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97-050