« It's Christmas and My Lawn Needs Cutting (and other wintertime thoughts) | Main | Religion and Community Associations »
January 6, 2007
Twin Rivers Redux
Last week, New Jersey’s Supreme Court began considering whether people give up some rights, such as posting a political sign in their yard, when they move into a community association that bans such a practice.The case being argued before the high court involves residents of the Twin Rivers housing development in East Windsor who objected to some of the regulations set by their homeowners association.
Lawyers for the residents said the New Jersey Supreme Court was the highest court in the U.S. to ever hear arguments challenging the authority of homeowners associations.
The Twin Rivers residents who sued object to restrictions on the display of political signs, being charged high fees to use the association’s community room, and the refusal by the association to allow dissenters’ views in the community newspaper.
The essence of the Plaintiff’s case is that the association should be treated like any other government entity, because it can issue fines and place liens against homes.
This, of course, is utter nonsense. Many completely private organizations, including, as pointed out in a comment to the post at Atlas Blogged, college fraternities, impose fines on people; ballplayers can be fined...once you've agreed to place yourself in an organization with that capacity, you've agreed to the process and penalty. In most states, a contractor who performs work on your home and doesn’t get paid can place a lien on the property. This doesn’t make them government entities. Whether the internal processes of the community applied them fairly is an association-specific issue, not a constitutional one.
The Constitution does protect an individual’s right to freedom of speech, but it only protects it against the action of the state and that is why the plaintiffs want the association to be considered a government. There is no such thing as a right to free speech that applies to private entities.
The decision, when it comes, will only have a direct impact on New Jersey, and possibly California, because of the specific language of their state constitutions, but the ramifications will be felt nationally, no matter which side prevails.
Posted by joewest at January 6, 2007 9:37 AM