A Grandson's Joint Is The Root Of An Eviction For Frances Johnson

How could smoking a joint and your grandparents losing their home have anything in common? If your grandparents live in public housing in some of the United States and you are arrested for that joint they fall under the "one strike and you're out" policy.

That is the case of Frances Johnson of Washington, D.C. The 68-year-old is battling the D.C. Housing Authority as strongly as she is fighting the cancer that could kill her. Her grandson got busted for a small amount of marijuana last year. Because he lived at her home she is liable for eviction even though she had no idea that he had brought the stuff into her home. Within weeks the D.C Housing Authority was in action bringing forth legal proceedings to oust Johnson from her home. This is not a woman who sits back and lets things happen without fighting though. She is a staunch volunteer of at-risk children. Several of the D.C. Council members backed her and wrote to the Authority Board to stop that action. As of May 27 she was re-certified for eligibility for the Housing Choice Voucher Program. She's not out of the woods yet. There are two more lawsuits that could get her evicted still in court because of the "one strike" policy.

"I feel the pressure, but I'm staying prayerful," Johnson told me recently. "It does make it hard to sleep sometimes, not knowing if I'm staying or going and if I have to go, will I have a place to go to."

Her grandson Ernest isn't a criminal type. He's a highly regarded employee at the local supermarket. He is also Johnson's primary caretaker. In September he was arrested for gambling in the street. He plead guilty to the marijuana possession and was sentenced to four months in jail. His store is holding his job until he can return next month when he leaves the penal system. Two weeks after his arrest Johnson's home was raided. It allegedly scored a cuff link box with a small amount of pot in it. Those charges were dropped. That was enough though to set forth the "one strike" policy.

"This is a law that has no defense, except for the raw fact that it is unconstitutional," said Pat O'Donnell, a lawyer with the firm Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, who is representing Johnson pro bono. "There is no due process under the law when the law treats people who have done nothing wrong like criminals."

Frances Johnson has had to agree not to allow her grandson back home when he gets out of jail. Something stinks here. Yes, breaking the law is a bad thing. But there's one little tidbit I didn't mention at the beginning of this piece. Not all crimes are considered equal here. Some more violent crimes are ignored when it comes to this policy. But smoke a joint and get caught. It may not just be you paying the piper.