Christmas Decoration Laws

[Jubal]

I feel we should do something more light hearted around this subforum at times

So, thoughts on this? Should neighbourhoods or councils be allowed to make laws like this?

http://distractify.com/news/2015/12/06/beth-oh-come-all-ye-zombies?utm_content=inf_11_53_2&tse_id=INF_19ea0e7fd3ae44e49f1aaf4f85fcdf5a

Jason Dixon is a homeowner and businessman from Deer Park, Ohio. Like many, his holiday decorations included a Nativity scene. Only his manger is full of the undead.

See, Dixon just happens to be in the haunted-house business. So he decided to give his Nativity scene a ghoulish twist: ZOMBIES.

Sycamore Township, the 12-town municipality conglomerate that includes Deer Park, has threatened to fine Dixon $500 every day the zombie nativity remains on display.

[comrade_general]

Ha! That's a great bit of advertising right there. I have a feeling this will be overturned pretty quickly though. Clear case of first amendment infringement.

[Jubal]

Yeah... I think in the vast majority of cases including this one I'm definitely in favour of people's right to put up whatever they like for decorations. My only slight issue would be a case where someone lived in a very touristy place where people were trading on the image and required it for their livelihoods, I think k that might be morally if not legally more complex. This is just funny though and the city's actions are plain silly. The article says something about it being on grounds of taking up too much of his garden, which I guess is a crap excuse to try and get around the first amendment issue on their part?

[comrade_general]

That's true. Some housing communities have contracts that the owners agree to when they move in. Silly stuff like what color your house has to be and would probably include decoration restrictions. My uncle lives at a private lake with similar things. He tried to add a deck to his house once but they threatened to fine him because he didn't get the right permission and pay their fees etc. So this may not exactly have to do with the content of his decoration but I'm sure most of the people on the council are taking it as an affront to their religious mumbo jumbo.

[Jubal]

I don't actually know what UK law is on most of these things. Doesn't affect me too much given I'm not going to have a house I'm allowed to majorly redecorate any time soon!

[comrade_general]

As a home/land owner with zero contractual obligations to anyone I could put up such display and there's not a damn thing anyone could do about it.

[Clockwork]

Afaik the only laws that apply to UK xmas decorations pertain to stores and streets and fall under general health and safety wrt hanging rope lights and fire hazard and such. I know the place that I used to work at only had fixed decorations because of that anyway, I was told you have to have someone check that they're safe or get someone else to install them.

[Othko97]

From what little I know of America, I hear it's mostly HOAs who try and enforce this bullarmadillo, rather than the actual city. I'm fairly certain there are not actually any laws against it, just regulations you have to sign in order to actually stay in your house.

[Glaurung]

Hmmm, a miscellany of thoughts:

In the UK
As I understand the law, this would probably be legal - in general, you can build what you like in your front garden, as long as it's temporary. If it's permanent (e.g. an extension to your house), you need planning permission from your local council. Of course, if the construction features something obscene, or an incitement to violence, or libellous, then legal action is likely to follow quite quickly. Other constraints might be a local by-law (fairly unusual, I think) or a contract between a tenant and a landlord.

In the US
I'm not so familiar with the detailed legal position, but, as CG implied, the First Amendment provides a lot of protection in this sort of situation, in terms of freedom of speech; there might be some argument based on the freedom of religion clauses as well. On the other hand, I suspect that local authorities (as Sycamore Township appears to be) have more freedom to introduce local laws than they would in the UK, hence the mention of permits. It would be very interesting to know what would have happened if the permit conditions had been strictly adhered to - this would have made any legal case much clearer.

[Jubal]

What about the Corpus Iuris Civilis?

[Glaurung]

What about the Corpus Iuris Civilis?

I don't think the Romans had Christmas decorations - I haven't found any mention of them. On the other hand, a display like the one that started this thread would probably be treated as blasphemy, which appears to have been a capital crime. So the guy in Ohio might feel he's getting off lightly at $500 a day...

[comrade_general]

Christmas during the Romans was likely still brooding deep in Germania or Gaul or some place before the magic zombie baby appeared.

[Jubal]

Yes, I'm not sure how the evolution of Christmas happened really. Subject for a new thread in the library perhaps?