Joplin complex in dispute over Christmas decorations

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Residents of a senior housing complex in Joplin said they are upset managers required them to remove religious Christmas decorations from common areas throughout the 65-unit building.

Some residents of Mercy Village in Joplin said they have used similar decorations, such as Christmas trees, candles and Nativity scenes, for years but were told to take down religious symbols this year, The Joplin Globe reported.

The complex's not-for-profit owner, Denver-based Mercy Housing Inc., said it must follow the federal Fair Housing Act because it receives funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

That act prohibits discrimination by housing providers on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability.

Resident Linda Hopper said the decorations in a second-floor public area made it feel welcoming and festive. But after the management's directive, all the decorations were taken down.

"It was like somebody brought in a vacuum cleaner and sucked the joy out," Hopper said.

A petition asking residents be allowed to "celebrate Christmas as we deem fit and to put up any and all decorations as we desire in all the common areas" recently had 49 signatures.

Springfield attorney Dee Wampler, who works with Christian legal groups and other organizations, met with some Mercy Village residents and said he doesn't anticipate any litigation over the matter.

But he said there's "no reason" for the dispute, citing a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the right of a not-for-profit group to put up a Christmas display, including a Nativity scene, in a Pawtucket, Rhode Island, shopping district.

"The Supreme Court said the celebration of Christmas, including the Nativity, is constitutional," Wampler said. "That law is still good, and there has never been a case that has ruled that Christmas is unconstitutional."

Residents said a "holiday" tree with a star is displayed in the first-floor lobby, but they want to put up a Nativity and other religious-themed decorations.

In a statement to the Globe, Kate Peterson, spokeswoman for Mercy Housing Inc., said residents are welcome to decorate their apartments any way they want and to decorate the property's common areas with secular decorations.

"However, because of the way the Fair Housing rules work, any decorations have to be religion-neutral (in shared spaces)," she said. "So Mercy Housing, as most other property owners, does not allow religiously themed decorations in the common areas at any time of the year."

Peterson cited the Fair Housing Institute, a private consultancy for the housing industry, which said decorations such as a Christmas tree or a Santa Claus are not religious and don't violate the Fair Housing Act.

But Nativity scenes, crosses, "happy birthday Jesus" signs and stars of David are religious and "should be avoided in public areas of a housing facility," the institute said. She said Mercy Village likely will not change its policy.