Acknowledgments

With a title like Lessons from Eviction Court, some explanation is in order. According to my job description, I am the one who is supposed to be providing the lessons, especially to the law students who work with me advocating for people facing the loss of their homes. In truth, our clients provide most of the lessons, to the students and me both.

These working parents, children, seniors, and persons living with disabilities live every moment wondering if they will be thrown out of their homes. Common sense and multiple studies tell us that they endure enormous physical and emotional damage as a result.

But, with very few exceptions, our clients shoulder that crushing burden with remarkable grace. The stories of their struggles fill this book, since those struggles illustrate the many ways that we fail them and point out how we can do better. But our clients’ strength deserves acknowledgment, too, along with my appreciation for how they inspire all of us who push for change. If we allies can be just a fraction as persistent and resilient as the people living with housing insecurity, together we will win the struggle to make housing a fully realized human right.

Speaking of how we can win, tenant union members and organizers every day show how we can end housing injustice. Moreover, they show how we can build human rights in every sector of society. Special thanks to Jessica Bellamy and Josh Poe of the Louisville Tenants Union and Tara Raghuveer of KC Tenants and the Tenant Union Federation, and the thousands of people at their sides.

I have learned so much from my students and colleagues at Indiana University McKinney School of Law, Indiana Legal Services, and the Indiana Justice Project. Judge Garland Graves and other respectful, dedicated judges and their staffs show us all how justice can be administered with compassion and wisdom. Housing justice advocates in Indiana and beyond, including the tenant navigators and volunteer court watchers we see in court each week, inspire and guide me and my students.

Years ago, my son Jack helped kick-start this book project with his excellent research on religious traditions supporting the human right to housing. My friend Bob Healey reads every word I write—poor guy. Bob was a constant source of encouragement throughout the writing of this book, as he has been in our court cases and in my previous book projects. The same holds true for my dear friend Dr. Joe Biggs. Professors Kathryn Sabbeth and Davida Finger have spent years advocating for tenants, practicing in eviction courts, and issuing important critiques of the process. They read this book in manuscript form and offered insightful suggestions and much-appreciated encouragement.

The grand finale of gratitude goes to my family. My life is immeasurably blessed by Sam, Katie, Jack, and Collin. All those blessings started with the beautiful, brilliant, and unfailingly kind Ellen, to whom this book is dedicated. Thank you with all my heart.