A demand by the Grosse Pointe associations that they be shown legal cause requiring abandonment of their program for screening out “undesirables” among prospective home buyers was met today by Attorney General Paul L. Adams with four citations that the program was illegal.
He said the point system, which imposes special handicaps on prospective Jewish bone purchasers in the swank Detroit suburb, was in conflict with state laws on discrimination in public accommodation and fair employment practices.
He contended also that restrictive covenants were illegal both in Michigan and in the United States and that Michigan therefore could not charter a corporation which violated that rule. His other two points concerned technical issues of stock and distribution of assets by Grosse Pointe Properties, Inc.
The Michigan Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union urged the Michigan Legislature to adopt legislation which would incorporate in state housing laws the concept of nondiscriminatory open occupancy standards.
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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.
