Posted on 07/15/2008 4:56:18 PM PDT by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) An American court of appeals has ruled in a split decision against the right of Jews to post the traditional mezuzah on the doorposts of a condominium apartment if the bylaws of the building prohibit signs and objects on outside doors. The mezuzah contains parchment with verses from the Torah and is an ancient tradition commanded by the Torah before the Exodus of Jews from Egypt. We cannot create an accommodation requirement for religion.
In the 2-1 decision, the court stated, "The hallway rule ... is neutral with respect to religion. It bans photos of family vacations, political placards, for-sale notices, and Chicago Bears pennants. We cannot create an accommodation requirement for religion. Our job is not to make the law the best it can be, but to enforce the law actually enacted."
Dissenting Judge Diane Wood said that leaving the rule in tact would amount to "constructive eviction" of observant Jewish residents. "Hallway Rule 1 operates exactly as a red-lining rule does with respect to the ability of the owner to sell to observant Jews," she wrote in her opinion. "The [condominium] association might as well hang a sign outside saying 'No observant Jews allowed.'"
The case involves the Shoreline Towers of Chicago and condominium owners Lynne Bloch and her two children, who live in three units. Building managers had removed the mezuzot from their doors while the family was at a funeral for Lynne Bloch's husband in 2004. The family put them back on the doorposts several times until the city passed a law allowing religious displays on doors.
The family sued for damages, but the court backed the right of the condominium group to establish its own laws. The Blochs are considering appealing to the Supreme Court, claiming there was an intention to discriminate against observant Jews.
In her dissenting opinion, Judge Wood noted that the condominium association's brief charged that the Bloch family was trying to get a "pound of flesh" from the group. She pointed out that the phrase appears in a literary work by Shakespeare and refers to the character Shylock, a moneylender who was punished by being forced to convert to Christianity.
"This is hardly the reference someone should choose who is trying to show that the stand-off ... was not because of the Blochs' religion, but rather in spite of it," she wrote
If this lawsuit had something to do with muslems hanging stuff outside of their doors, I wonder how the judges would have ruled?
Obama country!!!!
Every part, obviously.
However, doesn’t the hallway, and the exterior of the door belong to the Condo Association rather than the Condo owners?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Exactly. This wasn't about religion, it was about personalizing shared public areas (hallway in this case), without regard to any particular religion.
I’m not Jewish and my thought is some rabbi or someone will tell me I am wrong. But it seems to me that your home is your doorway, in other words, YOUR doorway to your condo.
When I had a Jewish tenant once, she put a mezuzah on the inside of her doorpost. No problem.
I’ll tell you where I was angry with the law. I lived in walking distance of a Jewish temple, and I wanted to put that in my ad for the apartment. I was told by Newsday I couldn’t do that, because that was “discriminatory”.
What part of or prohibiting the free exercise thereof do these pinheads not understand?
The Constitution protects you from the Gubmint .... not from private Condominium Associations.
For a case in point: Ping Admin Moderator, say somthing that he reeeeally does not like and then claim First Amendment Free Speech rights.
If this was any other organization than a condo association, I’d be shocked..but nothing a HOA does suprises me. I’m sure there are many other Jews in that building...Where are they?
I doubt that this kind of ruling would apply to a certain death cult from the middle east.
LOL! Lesson learned the hard way. ;-)
If my religion includes sacrificing goats in the front yard and then cooking them, am I allowed to exercise it?
Condo association = condo owners
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Can someone explain to me how this became a federal case about free speech? The Condo Bylaws are agreed to by private individuals. How can one claim a First Amendment case when the government is not a party to the dispute?
“t if the bylaws of the building prohibit signs and objects on outside doors”
I would imagine there may be personal animosity between the parties (the types of residents who run housing associations don’t do it to help others, generally, but from a power-related need), but hard to get beyond the above statement, if it is true here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.