Does a defendant have to prove discriminatory intent to avoid liability under section 3604(a)?

Defendants seek to avoid the disparate impact theory of liability by contending, incorrectly, that discriminatory animus must be alleged to maintain a claim under 3604(a). Def. Br. at 38. Distinguishing the result in LeBlanc-Sternberg v. Fletcher, 67 F.3d 412 (2d Cir. 1995), the defendants, and now the majority, emphasize the "jury's implicit finding" in that case of some discriminatory intent lurking behind the challenged zoning ordinance. This argument is merely a strawman, for our cases, present and precedent, and those of our sister circuits make it quite clear that discriminatory animus need not be shown by plaintiffs proceeding under a theory of discriminatory effect.