Lawsuit: Georgia city illegally discriminates against minorities

ATLANTA — A Georgia city’s policies illegally restrict access to utility services, and those policies disproportionately affect black and Latino residents, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.

The lawsuit against LaGrange says the city, which is the only provider of basic utilities, threatens to cut off utilities if residents don’t pay outstanding municipal court fines. Another policy denies utility services to people who can’t provide a Social Security number and a photo ID issued by the state or federal government, the suit says.

The policies violate the federal Fair Housing Act — which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin — because they disproportionately affect black and Latino residents, the lawsuit says. They also violate the obligation not to discriminate when providing utilities and violate state law, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of organizations, including the Georgia NAACP, as well as individual residents. It asks a judge to permanently block the policies and to award damages to the individuals.

LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton said in an email Thursday that he hasn’t had a chance to review the lawsuit and discuss it with the city council.

“We will make an appropriate response to the lawsuit after such review,” Thornton wrote.

LaGrange is about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta, near the state line with Alabama. The city’s website pitches it as a “growing progressive city just south of the busiest airport in the world.”

The city doesn’t collect property tax and, therefore, uses other streams of income, including court fees and utility payments, to beef up its revenue, said Justin Cox, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, who filed the complaint.

“It’s extremely regressive,” Cox said in a phone interview. “The city balances its budget on the backs of poor people who are overwhelmingly racial minorities.”

The city code says anyone applying for utility service who owes any debt to the city, including court judgments and fines, must pay that debt before getting utility service, the lawsuit says. The city code also says customers who owe any kind of debt to the city may have their utility service disconnected without prior notice if they fail to pay the debts.

“No provision of Georgia law authorizes municipalities or utility providers to collect unpaid court debt by withholding or terminating utility services, or by threatening to do either,” the lawsuit says. “In fact, common law duties owed by utility providers such as the City prohibit this practice.”