Tennessee State Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) has introduced four bills in the General Assembly that, if passed, would represent serious violations of the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The bills are a reaction to a local controversy in which a Bristol drug rehabilitation program got approval to build a new facility near a YWCA.

The Tennessee Fair Housing Council has written a short legal analysis of the bills; please feel free to download it and share it with others who might benefit from it.

Analysis in Adobe PDF format

When I got the phone calls on March 2 from two different reporters at WSMV, I wasn't surprised. They were calling about a home in Goodlettsville in which a handful of people with disabilities reside. I wasn't surprised because one of their reporters is among the neighbors who have been disgruntled about the home, so I knew it was just a matter of time before WSMV decided this non-story was newsworthy.