In this case pending before the New Jersey Supreme Court, the ACLU-NJ seeks to ensure that residents of homeowner associations are not denied their free speech rights. The case involves the rights of the residents of the 10,000-resident community of Twin Rivers in East Windsor to post political signs on their lawns, receive equal access to the community newspaper run by the association's board of trustees and receive equal access to the community room. In February 2006, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that private communities such as homeowner and condo associations for all practical purposes take on the role of municipal entities and are therefore "constitutional actors" that must respect their residents' freedoms of speech and due process rights.

Attorney(s)

Frank Askin/Rutgers Constitutional Litigation Clinic

Court

Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County: Chancery Division

Status

Closed