One week after a Stratford resident was told she could in fact of her California Condominiums unit, a Hamden senator is proposing legislation aimed at protecting the rights of residents to hang religious symbols on their door frames.
State Sen. Martin M. Looney announced the proposed legislation Tuesday.
"This proposal makes the law explicitly clear," Looney said in a statement. "Mezuzahs must be allowed by condo associations. No one should have to endure the hurt and indignity that Ms. Cadranel did. Hopefully this law will prevent this from happening again.”
A mezuzah is a small plaque containing a scroll inscribed with a Hebrew prayer. Before Cadranel was granted permission to display the Jewish symbol, her condo assocation told her to remove it or be subject to a $50 fine per day.
"It is so comforting to know that Senator Looney and the legislature are on my side, and that their actions with this bill will prevent anyone else from going through what I have gone through," Cadranel said in a statement.
The Anti-Defamation League was also there to announce the proposed legislation.
"We are grateful to Senator Looney and his staff for recognizing the critical importance of making sure that people of all backgrounds are free to follow the dictates of their religious beliefs, and for working so hard to take measures to ensure that others in Connecticut are not subject to the challenges that Ms. Cadranel has faced," Gary Jones, Connecticut regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.
According to a release from Looney's office, the proposal states the following:
No person may prohibit or hinder the owner, lessee, or sub-lessee of a condominium unit from attaching to the front-door area or front-door frame of such unit an object prescribed by observance of a religious practice or sincerely held religious belief.
The proposal does not prohibit the enforcement or adoption of a covenant that, to the extent allowed by the constitution of this state and the United States, prohibits the display or affixing of an item on the entry to the owner’s or resident’s dwelling that:
- Threatens the public health or safety;
- Violates a law;
- Contains language, graphics, or any display that is patently offensive;
- Is in a location other than the entry door or door frame or extends past the outer edge of the door frame of the owner’s or resident’s dwelling; or
- Individually or in combination with each other item displayed or affixed on the entry door or door frame has a total size of greater than 25 square inches.
