A state law which prohibits discrimination on racial grounds in the sale of houses built with the aid of Federal financing, was declared unconstitutional today in Superior Court.
Judge James W. Holden set aside a ruling by the State Board Against Discrimination directing a home-owner to sell his house for $18, 000 to a Negro applicant. The judge ruled that the property-owner was acting as a private individual even though his home had been purchased with a Federal Housing Administration insured mortgage.
“A private individual acting in his private capacity is perfectly free to discriminate as he pleases, ” Judge Hodson declared. The Washington anti-discrimination law was enacted in 1957.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
