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Today, we’re excited to announce that First Liberty reached a settlement on behalf of our client, Donna Dunbar, a retired senior citizen in Florida who’d been denied access to her apartment community’s social room for meetings based on their religious content.
The agreement is excellent news—it states that Donna may continue to use the social room on a weekly basis to hold a Bible study without being subject to special rules or restrictions.
Mrs. Dunbar—a lay minister and recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award—held a small Bible study once a week in the Cambridge House Condominiums social room. Shockingly, last year, the Cambridge House Board put into effect a discriminatory policy stating, “Prayers and other religious services, observations, or meetings of any nature shall not occur...in or upon any of the common elements.”
You may even recall this shocking sign that was posted above the piano in community room:
After First Liberty took action and filed a fair housing complaint, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigated this blatant religious liberty violation.
Now, Donna will be able to freely live out her faith and use the social room just like all the other residents.
Her victory is more proof that we are taking part in a historic turning point when people of faith are reclaiming religious freedom at an unprecedented rate. In fact, our successful defense of Donna is just the latest in a string of victories that our attorneys have achieved to safeguard religious liberty in the most sacred and protected space of all: your home.
If you recall, back in June 2018, we won a reversal at the U.S. Supreme Court, winning for our client, Mary Anne Sause, a devout Catholic, who was harassed and ordered by police to stop praying in her home following an alleged “minor noise” complaint.
Last fall, First Liberty delivered another victory for Congregation Toras Chaim, a small Orthodox Jewish community who once again can gather for worship at a North Texas home, ending nearly 6 years of litigation.
And just last month, we kicked off the new year by securing a similar triumph for Ken and Liv Hauge, who’d also been banned by their senior living community from holding Bible studies and were even threatened with eviction.
This is religious freedom being delivered.
We are reclaiming the freedoms that were once stripped away from us and restoring our God-given rights in the spaces and places where we live out our faith every day.
But make no mistake, this fight is far from over. We continue to defend the Orthodox Jewish community in Airmont, NY—a village “born in bigotry” with a 30-year history of discriminating against local Rabbis who’ve been forced underground for practicing their faith in their homes.
Right now, the momentum is on our side...and the victories above are proof that by going All In with Frist Liberty you can help us reclaim religious freedom nationwide.
Because YOU give, we can fight and win cases that will impact your religious liberty at home—and set precedents that will protect the First Freedom of our children and grandchildren.
Please consider making a timely financial donation today.
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