Roomate Wanted: The Right to Choice in Shared Living
John T. Messerly, 93 Iowa L. Rev. 1949 (2008)
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In recent years, the government and private actors have applied state and federal housing-discrimination statutes to shared-living arrangements. These statutes limit the factors that an individual may consider in choosing a roommate or housemate. This limitation can compel an individual to live with someone with whom she is not comfortable sharing a home or with whom she does not care to live. An individual’s right to choose the people with whom she shares a living arrangement is a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Constitution. Therefore, since legislators have not narrowly tailored housing-discrimination statutes to protect the constitutional freedoms that provide the foundations for shared living, existing housing-discrimination law is unconstitutional insofar as it limits the right of private individuals to choose the people with whom they wish to share their homes.
