Article Courtesy of The Liberty Institute
Published March 9, 2018
PORT CHARLOTTE -- Attorneys with First Liberty Institute
and Greenberg Traurig, P.A., today filed a complaint with the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development on behalf of residents at the
Cambridge House Condominiums in Port Charlotte, Florida. Residents have been
denied access to the community’s social room for meetings based on their
religious content.
“The unequal treatment of citizens in the community simply out of hostility
to religion violates federal law and the First Amendment,” said Lea
Patterson, Judicial Fellow at First Liberty. “We are confident that
Secretary Ben Carson and the Department of Housing and Urban Development
will resolve this issue quickly.”
Mrs. Donna Dunbar is a lay minister in the Seventh Day Adventist Church and
received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Obama for
providing more than 4,000 volunteer hours establishing a soup kitchen in her
local community. For nearly a year, Mrs. Dunbar held a small Bible study
once a week in the Cambridge House social room.
On February 6, 2018 the Cambridge House Board, with no public notice,
adopted a resolution providing that “Prayers and other religious services,
observations, or meetings of any nature shall not occur … in or upon any of
the common elements.” In addition, the Board demanded the removal of all
religious items from the building’s premises, including a decorative angel
fountain, and a statue of St. Francis of Assisi donated by a resident in
memory of a deceased loved one. Someone even placed a sign on the community
organ explaining that residents are also prohibited from playing “Christian”
music on the instrument that was donated by a resident.
The complaint asks for HUD to investigate the matter and take all
appropriate actions.
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