War Veteran Sues Peace Activist for Refusal to Rent Him an Apartment

Michael Allen
Opposing Views
Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00 UTC

In Savin Hill, Massachusetts, Sgt. Joel Morgan has sued property owner Janice Roberts, who reportedly refused to rent an apartment to him because he is a national guardsman who has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Roberts told Sgt. Morgan in an April 9 voicemail that renting to him would be a conflict, saying, "We are very adamant about our beliefs," reports the Boston Herald.

"It just is not going to be comfortable for us without a doubt. It probably would be better for you to look for a place that is a little bit less politically active and controversial," Roberts told Dgt. Morgan, according to his lawsuit.

Sgt. Morgan said: "For her to do that to me, it was like a spit in the face. For what we have gone through overseas, to come home to our country and have people ... discriminate against us. ... It made me extremely insecure about being a soldier."

Morgan filed suit last week in Suffolk Superior Court, accusing Roberts of violating a state law that prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to veterans.

Robert's written response to the lawsuit claims that Sgt. Morgan never returned a completed rental application, which he admits after hearing her voicemail.

Roberts, who has belonged to a civil-rights group called Garden of Enlightenment since 2000, also said: "This bodes the question, 'Why would someone like Joel Morgan, who apparently fought so valiently (sic) in wars in which he believed, want to even choose to subject himself to renting an apartment from people, like myself, who were so vigorously seeking an end to the Iraq War?'

"There was never any mention to Morgan that his being a veteran would impede his chances to rent from us. If anything, he was a victim of U.S. greed, and for that, I feel much empathy."

Reader Comments

NugaBurd · 2012-06-05T05:34:03Z

There's a case?

He didn't submit an application, therefore she didn't reject an application, therefore she didn't refuse to rent to him.

According to the article, her only "offense" was in telling him honestly that both the current tenants and he would be happier were he to rent elsewhere.

In my opinion, she behaved like a decent human being.

Guardian · 2012-06-05T09:08:11Z

Just The Begining.

I think some returning "war veterans" are in for a big shock. They've been programmed to believe that they are "heroes" and most don't seem prepared to accept the fact that MANY Americans consider them nothing more than Paid Killers in the employ of Corporate Amerika.

They weren't drafted or forced to enlist, they freely chose to join the corporate machine and accept payment for slaughtering indigenous people, and stealing their natural resources, worldwide. They freely chose to forcibly support a Corporate owned government that has financially raped the American populace, and striped ordinary citizens of their Constitutional rights.

I have no intention of renting to, or employing, any of these psychopathic murder machines in uniform either, and I look forward to the day when they are held responsible for the many war crimes being committed by US Military forces..

psychegram · 2012-06-10T02:29:10Z

That's too simplistic....

Guardian, I feel that's an insufficiently nuanced position. While there's no doubt that a great number of military personnel are just as you say, there's also this phenomenon known as the 'economic draft': for many Americans, the military presents essentially the only viable employment option. Combine this with a lie machine running full-tilt to convince the public that military service is somehow honourable and heroic, and perhaps you can understand how many humans could find themselves engaged in morally hideous behaviours abroad. And let's not forget how many veterans have their eyes opened while on deployment, and return to abjure the military and the corporate state it serves.