First Amendment Rights Overview

Specific first Amendment rights have been dealt with primarily through two pieces of legislation: AB1545/Longville (2003) and more recently SB407/Wieckowski (2018.) The bill states that “It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to provide for all of the following: (a) that homeowners throughout the State shall be able to engage in constitutionally protected free speech….”

The Longville legislation – initiated by the ACLU – arose after numerous association homeowners in California were ordered to remove political signs and flags from their own separate interest to which they held title.[1]  The dispute was not new, but became heated in 2003 at the onset of the Iraq War, when it emerged as an issue in associations across the country.  ACLU California – and CCHAL – were the first in the nation to sponsor a bill affirming that association homeowners had a First Amendment right to display political signs and flags on their own property.  The association industry routinely try to undercut the right by limiting the nature and materials that can be used and the length of time signs can be posted, but AB1545 nonetheless stablished the First Amendment principle for California owners. 

Senator Wieckowski reaffirmed constitutional principles through his legislation (SB407/2018) which states that “It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that members and residents of common interest developments have the ability to exercise their rights under law to peacefully communicate with one another and with others with respect to common interest development living or for social, political, or educational purposes.”

SB407 (Civil Code §4515 et seq) affirms that efforts to block the homeowner’s First Amendment rights of free speech can be challenged in small claims court. The plaintiff can ask the court to fine the association for each attempt to block the right.  A model case is found here (LINK)

In this Northern California case, the association repeatedly removed the homeowner’s postings from the community bulletin board, thus blocking her right to communicate with her neighbors.  The court’s ruling said the association’s actions clearly violated both the state and federal constitutions by blocking this right to free speech.  

After SB407 was signed into law, Senator Wieckowski and CCHAL convened a community forum to discuss the bill.  A video on the forum is posted on the website.

[1] The ACLU later litigated the application of this principle to renters living in associations.

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