Agents from the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development investigated the Salem, Oregon Statesman-Journal for publishing a drawing of an Easter bunny in its real-estate section during the Easter holiday season. The bunny had offended an atheist who thought it promoted Christianity and was thus discriminatory. Other word crimes HUD has ferreted out include the use of "bachelor pad," "mature," "singles' paradise" or "exclusive," as well as terms that might "ghettoize" certain groups: "near synagogue," "near country club," or "desirable neighborhood."

A small Wisconsin newspaper spent more than $7,000 to defend itself against a complaint from a man rebuffed by a woman who had advertised for a female roommate. Actually, the woman's ad was legal under HUD regulations (one of the few discriminatory words it allows), and the man in question started harassing the woman for a date after she turned him down as a live-in. Nonetheless, a HUD investigator questioned more than 20 newspaper employees before filing a compulsory eight-page report on the matter.

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