Attorney General v. Desilets
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
636 N.E.2d 233 (1994)
Two brothers (defendants) who owned a Massachusetts apartment building refused, on religious grounds, to rent to an unmarried couple, prompting a housing-discrimination complaint under G.L. c. 151B, Section 4(6), which bars marital-status discrimination in housing. The Attorney General (plaintiff) sued the brothers on the couple's behalf. The trial judge granted summary judgment for the brothers, holding the statute unconstitutional as applied to them, and the Attorney General sought direct review.
Whether a landlord has the right to deny housing to an unmarried couple if the state's interest in preventing housing discrimination against unmarried couples outweighs the landlord's right to freely exercise his religion.