Greene v. Lindsey case brief

Greene v. Lindsey case brief summary
456 U.S. 444 (1982)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Appellees, public housing tenants (tenants), filed an action against appellants, sheriff and deputies (deputies) under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment for the tenants' eviction. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found for the tenants. The deputies appealed.

CASE FACTS
Under Ky. Rev. Stat. § 454.030 (1975), the deputies posted notices of forcible detainer actions on the tenants' apartment doors, even though the deputies knew that children removed the notices before the tenants saw them. The tenants did not know about the actions until they received a writ of possession. The tenants claimed that their property was taken from them without due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment.

DISCUSSION

• The court affirmed the decision for the tenants. 
• Because the deputies were aware that the tenants were not advised of the posted notices and there were available alternative means to advise the tenants of the notices, the posting method was constitutionally inadequate to advise the tenants of the forcible detainer actions. 
• The deputies could have used the mail or attempted a second delivery to adequately advise the tenants of the forcible detainer actions.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the decision for the tenants against the deputies in the tenants' action under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.


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