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A self-proclaimed “Christmas Lawyer” faces losing his legal license after he criticized a judge who banned his festive home display, which featured a live camel and 700,000 bulbs, allegedly calling the justice “corrupt” and a “hateful anti-Christian bigot.”
Jeremy Morris was informed the Idaho State Bar has “probable cause to proceed with formal charges” against him for accusing federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill of corruption following an ongoing legal battle with the West Hayden Estates Homeowners Association.
“The Idaho State Bar has made it clear they’re going to protect their friends, in this case, a federal judge,” Morris told Fox News. “But the problem is, attorneys have the freedom of speech.”
Winmill had overturned a unanimous jury verdict to allow his Christmas display and that any further setup must comply with the HOA’s rules in 2019.
“This particular judge attempted to cancel Christmas,” Morris told the outlet.
In 2015, Morris moved into the Kootenai County community and spent three months designing a monumental Christmas display that featured 700,000 lightbulbs, a live nativity scene with a camel, and more than 80 actors.
The lawyer claimed he had reviewed the HOA’s rules — and reached out to the association — and found nothing legally preventing him from putting on the massive spectacle.
He said he soon received a legal letter from a HOA member that threatened a lawsuit if he did not remove the lights within 10 days.
Morris was warned the display would be offensive to “non-Christians” and could attract “possible undesirables” and that the lights would cause “excessive brightness.”
He followed through with the display across five evenings and his refusal sparked a legal battle that has gone on for nearly a decade.
Morris claims that in 2016, the second year of his putting on the Christmas display, neighbors began harassing people visiting his home.
The attorney said his neighbors were determined to end his display by any means necessary, claiming one threatened to “take care of him.”
He sued the HOA in Jan. 2017 for religious discrimination and violated the Fair Housing Act.
The jury returned a unanimous decision in his favor and ordered the HOA to pay $75,000.
However, Judge Winmill reversed the jury’s verdict and ordered Morris to pay the HOA’s legal fees, which totaled $111,000, ruling the lawsuit wasn’t about religious discrimination but rather the Morris family’s violation of neighborhood rules.
Winmill ordered a permanent ban on Morris from holding another Christmas display that violated the HOA rules.
Morris appealed the ruling in June 2020.
In 2021, Morris filed a judicial misconduct claim against Winmill, citing the judge unfairly struck down testimony from the majority of his witnesses.
The case is now awaiting a decision from the 9th Circuit.
In January, the Idaho State Bar wrote Morris about several claims he made against Winmill on social media and in the documentary, citing statements he made calling the judge “corrupt” and a “hateful anti-Christian bigot” who attempted to “rig a jury.”
In August, another Idaho State Bar representative informed Morris’ attorney they found “probable cause to proceed with formal charges” under Idaho’s professional conduct rule.
The rule prohibits a lawyer from making statements “with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge,” according to Fox News.
The bar offered to dismiss the case as long as Morris would give up his Idaho legal license.
Morris called the offer a “shakedown.”
Morris’ clash with the HOA inspired the Apple TV film “‘Twas The Fight Before Christmas.”
In Feb. 2022, Morris announced on Facebook that he was moving out of Idaho as he “thanked those who didn’t spit on my family.”
“A lot of people that should’ve had my back … really stabbed my family in the back. They turned their back and many have done things or said things that I believe are very hurtful,” Morris said in a 2022 video.
Despite the legal headache he finds himself in, Morris said he doesn’t regret what he’s done.
“I’m so proud of the stand that I took and the opportunity that I’ve given to people who hate me, who hate my family, who hate my beliefs, to turn the other cheek,” he said. “I would do it again.”
With Post wires
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