Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham, 386 U.S. 670 (1967)

Citation: Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham, 386 U.S. 670 (1967)
Parent Document: Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham, 386 U.S. 670 (1967)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 1967-06-05
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/107416/thorpe-v-housing-authority-of-durham/ ↗

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Over and over again we have stressed that "the nature and the theory of our institutions of government, the principles upon which they are supposed to rest . . . do not mean to leave room for the play and action of purely personal and arbitrary power" (Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 356, 369-370) and that the essence of due process is "the protection of the individual against arbitrary action." Ohio Bell Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n, 301 U. S. 292, 302; Slochower v. Board of Education, 350 U. S. 551, 559. Any suggestion to the contrary "resembles the philosophy of feudal tenure." Reich, The New Property, 73 Yale L. J. 733, 769. It is not dispositive to maintain that a private landlord might terminate a lease at his pleasure. For this is government we are dealing with, and the actions of government are circumscribed by the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment. "The government as landlord is still the government. It must not act arbitrarily, for, unlike private landlords, it is subject to the requirements of due process of law. Arbitrary action is not due process." Rudder v. United States, 96 U. S. App. D. C. 329, 331, 226 F. 2d 51, 53.

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