Elton Gallegly Quotes
As a former mayor, I know that local governments must have control over land use decisions.
United States, Congress, House. Representative Elton Gallegly speaking on the Private Property Rights Protection Act. Congressional Record, Government Printing Office, 3 Nov. 2005.
A restrictive covenant was a condition that was written into the deed on a piece of property. Even if the owner of the home did not want to discriminate, the previous owners who wrote the restrictive covenant into the deed (or his relatives and heirs) could sue and invalidate the sale. In many cases, insurance would not sell title insurance or banks would not give mortgages for a Black or a Jew where there was a covenant in the deed, even if the covenant was more than 100 years old. Homeowner associations would also enforce the covenants which were originally written into all the deeds of the development. 5 years after this was written, President Harry S Truman ordered that protective covenants be challenged as unconstitutional before the Supreme Court. Once the supreme court ruled that restrictive covenants were unconstitutional, no court would enforce any of these lawsuits.
Elton William Gallegly is a former U.S. Representative from California. A Republican, he last represented California's 24th congressional district. He previously represented the 23rd and 21st Districts, and served from 1987 to 2013. He did not seek re-election in 2012.
