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IS YOUR ASSOCIATION FLAG FRIENDLY?
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published October 9, 2017
The flag sure is a topic of discussion in the
country. The purpose of today is not to take a side on whether
or not NFL players should sit or stand.
Although I’m sure you
guys know where I stand on that issue.
I go to so many of your meetings. Some of
them are in Board rooms and some of them are in large
auditoriums. For the ones that are held in auditoriums I almost
always see the American Flag displayed. Not only that……. so
many of you start your Board meetings with the pledge of
allegiance, even though there is no requirement that you have
to. I for one, love seeing it and hearing it.
My question to all of you is……. if the
display of the flag is not required at your Board meetings and
the pledge of allegiance is also not required, why do you do it?
Something inside you obviously believes it’s the right thing to
do, or you wouldn’t do it. So tell me what is that something.
Florida law only requires the American Flag
to be displayed in a publicly supported auditorium and
provides as follows:
Florida Statute 256.111: Each publicly
supported and controlled auditorium within a separate building
shall display daily the flag of the United States upon a
suitable flagstaff upon the grounds of the auditorium except
when the weather does not permit such display, and each publicly
supported and controlled auditorium within a part of a building
shall display daily the flag of the United States inside of the
auditorium whenever the auditorium is open.
(2) It is the duty of the person
responsible for the administration of such auditorium to provide
a suitable flag and cause it to be displayed in the manner
provided in subsection (1). If any person willfully causes the
flag to fail to be so displayed, except for the cleaning,
repair, or replacement of such flag, such person is guilty of a
noncriminal violation, punishable as provided in s. 775.083.
In case you’re wondering, Florida also still
mandates that the school day starts with the pledge of
allegiance.
Florida Statute 1003.44 states: (1) Each
district school board may adopt rules to require, in all of the
schools of the district, programs of a patriotic nature to
encourage greater respect for the government of the United
States and its national anthem and flag, subject always to other
existing pertinent laws of the United States or of the state.
When the national anthem is played, students and all civilians
shall stand at attention, men removing the headdress, except
when such headdress is worn for religious purposes. The pledge
of allegiance to the flag, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all,” shall be rendered by students standing with
the right hand over the heart. The pledge of allegiance to
the flag shall be recited at the beginning of the day in each
public elementary, middle, and high school in the state.
Each student shall be informed by a written notice published in
the student handbook or a similar publication pursuant to s.
1006.07(2) that the student has the right not to participate in
reciting the pledge. Upon written request by his or her parent,
the student must be excused from reciting the pledge, including
standing and placing the right hand over his or her heart. When
the pledge is given, unexcused students must show full respect
to the flag by standing at attention, men removing the
headdress, except when such headdress is worn for religious
purposes,
So, Florida law doesn’t require a flag to be
displayed at your private board meetings at your association.
It only requires the flag at public meetings. Florida law only
requires students to say the pledge of allegiance, not unit
owners and Board members who attend a Board meeting in your
community. But you’re doing it anyway. It’s on your agendas
and meeting notices. Why?
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About
HOA & Condo Blog
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Eric Glazer graduated from
the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for more than 2
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decades and is the owner of Glazer
and Associates, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in
Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples,
Fort Myers and Tampa.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host
of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs
at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He is the first attorney in the
State of Florida that designed a course that certifies
condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium
Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000
Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit
Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated
dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric
also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the
best interest of Florida community association members.
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