You move to Shady Grove or Gladiola Park or Happy Acres because you like order. Everything’s planned, everything’s prescribed. Those are the bylaws of a homeowners association. Ten Thousand residents in Twin Rivers, New Jersey’s largest private neighborhood, gladly abide by the decisions that govern, the height and look of the grass, the size and variety of lawn ornaments, even the color of the front door: “white or beige.”
But some residents see only red when the rules collide with what they call the basic constitutional rights of political expression. And so now, they’re suing for free use of lawn signs and leaflets, saying the Home Owners Association needs to act more like a democracy, not a dictatorship.
Guests:
Frank Askin, director of the Constitutional Litigation Clinic at Rutgers Law School
Dianne McCarthy, a resident of Twin Rivers, New Jersey for 22 years and one of the plaintiffs in the Twin Rivers case
Barry Goodman, lawyer representing Twin Rivers Homeowner Association
and Ronald Pearl, President-elect of the Community Association Institute Research Foundation