Clubhouse can't ban Christian meetings

Clubhouse can't ban Christian meetings
Judge says mobile home park must allow Bible studies

A California court has ruled that not only must a homeowners association allow Bible studies in its common areas, it has to pay $12,000 to the lawyers who had to defend against a motion to dismiss the action.

The latest victory in the case being handled by the United States Justice Foundation came this week when San Diego Superior Court Judge Jacqueline M. Stern ordered the Warner Springs, Calif., homeowners association to pay that money to lawyers for the plaintiffs.

They had brought the lawsuit because after many years of regularly having Bible studies in a community center, managers suddenly banned all religious meetings.

USJF lawyer D. Colette Wilson said the latest victory in the case, the fourth in a row, awarded the fees because the court concluded a motion alleging a constitutional right on the part of the homeowners association to ban prayer meetings was not brought in good faith.

She said that "right" doesn't exist under the California or United States constitutions, or under California law. In fact, she said, the state law considers a homeowners association a business, and those are not allowed to discriminate based on religion.

"One of the things that kind of emboldened them was (a provision) in the mobile home residency law that you can't have a rule or policy that prohibits a clubhouse from being used for any lawful purpose," she said.

However, the location had converted to a condominium ownership, and that same rule isn't into condo regulations, she said.

"I think they really thought, 'Now we're really a condo association' and that doesn't apply to us," Wilson said.

However, what the condo association rules to not require, the state's statutes do, she said.

"The court has once again vindicated the rights of our clients to have Bible and prayer meetings in the mobile home park clubhouse, as provided for by California statutory law and by the United States and California Constitutions," she said.

The Bible studies in the clubhouse were halted, forcibly, in 2004. At that point, the association barred Bible and prayer meetings, despite the fact the meetings were attended by those with a variety of faiths including Catholics, Protestants and Jews, and had been administered by rabbis, priests and pastors.

The foundation is representing two residents of the park who challenged the ban, Susan Eva-Marie Heraver and Catherine Lovejoy.

"There is no constitutional right to bar people from having meetings to publicly talk about their faith," Wilson said. "It is clear that our clients have the right to utilize the common areas of the mobile home park for prayer meetings and Bible studies just like any other group of residents have the right to use the common areas for meetings concerning needlepoint, yoga, and anything else."

The group had met temporarily in homes when the ban first was imposed, but found they couldn’t accommodate the crowds of up to 40.

The change in procedures came along with the change in leadership of the homeowners' association.

At one point, a woman even threatened meeting participants with a pool cue, and when she was videotaped, grabbed the camera, called police and claimed she was attacked, Wilson said.