The courthouse where eviction hearings take place is adorned with the slogan Vox Populi Vox Dei, which means “The voice of the people is the voice of God” in Latin. This slogan belies the reality of what happens inside the courthouse in an extreme way. Most of the time, the courthouse is a place where tenants receive confirmation that they have no power in the face of landlords and the law. Indeed, this disparity of power is reflected in the demographic makeup of people in the courthouse. The lawyers and bailiffs are usually all white, whereas most of the tenants who come in for eviction hearings are black women. These demographics reflect the racial and gender injustice at the heart of the problem of eviction. Poor black mothers face (at least) triple discrimination in the housing market, and are thus overrepresented at the courthouse, a symbol of the perversion of justice that exists in America today.
The Courthouse Symbol Timeline in Evicted
