O.C. Homeowner’s Cross Brought to Bear

An Orange County Superior Court judge has refused to force a Christian woman to remove a cross from her patio, rejecting a contention by her homeowners association that the religious symbol could be offensive, attorneys said Tuesday.

The case, set for trial in March, could establish a precedent by drawing the line between a homeowner’s freedom of speech and the right of the community to impose its own rules.

“Unless these lines are drawn somewhere, personal freedom gets swallowed up in the interest of community homogeneity,” said Victor Conde, an Irvine attorney representing condo owner Jean Majzler Amato. “To what extent do we waive our constitutional rights when we buy a condominium? That’s what this case is about.”

At issue is whether Amato, who has lived in Irvine’s Springs Condominium since 1987, can leave a 5-foot wooden cross in a planter on her front patio. The condominium association argued that the religious symbol is not permitted under the group’s guidelines, to which Amato agreed when she moved into the community near Yale Avenue and Park Place.

“If someone was to put a refrigerator out there, we would have reacted the same way,” said Jim Bain, the association’s president. “If we didn’t tell them that that’s against the rules, we would have a place here that would start to lose its visual integrity.”

Arguing that placing the cross in a common area visible to neighbors could offend them, possibly causing “irreparable damage,” the association asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard W. Luesebrink to order Amato to remove the cross. The judge rejected that request Friday.

The cross has caused a stir in the placid community of condominiums where the sound of an artificial babbling brook and a few ducks wading in the water set the tone for daily life. Residents are sharply divided, with those who support Amato pitted against those who accuse her of wasting association funds on legal fees.

“A lot of people have encouraged me to keep it up,” Amato said Tuesday. “I’m doing something positive and good. It’s a good thing to give glory to God.”

Such neighborhood disputes are not new to Irvine, where powerful homeowners associations have rules on everything from the color of a house to how the hibiscus is trimmed.

Many homeowners say these rules governing neighborhood neatness and uniformity can help to improve property values. Others have accused leaders of being too overbearing.

Bain said the case is not about religious freedom, but the blatant violation of the regulations that govern the community. He also noted that Amato once served on the association’s board.

“This is a former board member. . . . She should know what’s going on,” Bain said. Giving in on this point could cause similar problems, and also place the association members in the position of violating their own guidelines, he said.

“We have to act upon it. If we don’t as a board, we’re in violation,” he said.

Amato is represented by the Sacramento-based Pacific Justice Institute, which handles cases involving religious freedom.

The institute said Amato is being wrongly barred from expressing her religious beliefs on her private property.

The 46-year-old woman and her attorney said the association is guilty of selectively enforcing its rules by allowing others in the neighborhood to display signs on their yards, such as “Pet Heaven” or “Daniel’s House.”

“It was the style and content of my client’s expression that rubbed some people the wrong way,” said Conde, Amato’s attorney.

Kathryn Morrell, a sixth-grade teacher who lives nearby, is among several neighbors who have put up displays that read “Jesus” in their windows to show support for Amato, a nurse’s aide who also has a housecleaning business.

“To me, it’s uplifting,” Morrell said of the cross.

Bain said the association had tried several times to resolve the issue without a lawsuit, even directing an employee to remove the cross.

But Amato replaced it with another one, leaving board members with no other recourse than to take the dispute to court, he said.

The court costs have taken money out of the association’s treasury that is needed elsewhere for maintenance and other projects, Bain said.

“You have to remember that this issue was not created by the board,” Bain said. “I just hope everything can calm down and everybody can get back to being neighbors.”

Amato began decorating her home several years ago with religious displays made from paper and glitter that read “Jesus is my Lord” and “Jesus loves me.”

She received warning letters from the association but refused to take down the art.

Tension between her and the board remained, and culminated in court after Amato placed the cross in the patio’s flower bed. When Amato appeared before Luesebrink in September, she offered to take the cross down if the association would drop the issue.

“I was scared,” she recalled. “I thought if I took it down, it would all be over with. But that wasn’t true. They were still going to pursue attorneys fees, which they told me I had to pay.”

Amato then decided to move the cross from the garden patch to the planter, which she considers to be on her private property, and continued fighting the association. The battle hasn’t been easy, she said.

“It has been scary at times because I don’t know what going to happen to me, how far they can go,” she said. “But overall, I have to say that I’ve grown a lot and my relationship with God has strengthened.”

Amato, raised as a Catholic, said she didn’t “find God” until about 14 years ago, after moving to Southern California from Chicago. Since then, religion has given her strength, Amato said.

She routinely attends the Embassy Christian Center in Irvine and decorates her home with pictures of Jesus and other Christian art.

“I can’t tell you what a force he has been in my life,” she said. “If I want the world to know that, I believe that is my right.”

Times staff writer Davan Maharaj also contributed to this report.