Hard-Line Drug Law Threatens a Pillar of the Community

Frances Johnson faces eviction after her grandson's arrest. (By Courtland Milloy -- The Washington Post)

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Under an agreement between Frances Johnson and D.C. housing authorities, Ernest will no longer be allowed to live with her, which will be a hardship for her.

Julie Becker, a lawyer with the D.C. Legal Aid Society, said the federal law permits but does not require eviction for all criminal activity. In testimony before the D.C. Council last year, she accused the D.C. Housing Authority of taking "an extremely zealous approach" to the law, citing attempts to evict an 82-year-old man based on the activity of his son and grandson as well as a woman based on a fight between her teenage granddaughter and a neighbor.

O'Donnell said he hopes a settlement can be reached with Johnson's landlord. Kevin Kane, a lawyer handling the case for NDC Realty, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

"However this ends for Ms. Johnson, though," O'Donnell said, "the sins of the grandson will continue to be visited upon grandmothers like her under the one-strike law."

Through the years, Johnson has continued her good works. Most recently, as a custodian for Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, she has been coaxing neighborhood kids to attend Sunday school by cooking breakfast for them in the church kitchen.

"I try to help others as much as I can," she said. "No better way to keep from worrying so much about your own woes."

E-mail:milloyc@washpost.com

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