For twelve years, the City of Boston had allowed groups to temporarily fly a flag on one of its three flagpoles in front of City Hall. The City’s website stated that it wanted to create an environment where everyone feels included and to foster diversity and build connections among Boston’s many communities. The application form noted that the City sought to accommodate all applicants seeking to take advantage of its public forums. For that purpose, the City had approved 284 flag-raising events and had never denied any group’s application to fly its flag until 2017 when Camp Constitution applied to fly a Christian flag as part of an event featuring speeches by local clergy on Boston’s history as part of an effort to enhance understanding of the country’s Judeo-Christian moral heritage. Although the City had previously allowed groups to fly flags of other countries and flags celebrating causes such as gay pride, the City denied Camp Constitution’s flag-raising request. Camp Constitution’s second request, to raise a Christian flag for an event to celebrate the contributions which Boston’s Christian community has made to the City’s cultural diversity, was also not granted. Although both the district court and the appellate court ruled in favor of Boston, affirming its decision not to allow Camp Constitution to fly a Christian flag, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that Boston’s actions, prohibiting the Christian flag while allowing other flags, were unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court’s opinion and the Institute’s amicus brief in Shurtleff v. Boston are available at www.rutherford.org. Mark D. Taticchi, D. Alicia Hickok, Renee M. Dudek, Elizabeth M. Casey, and Nicholas J. Nelson of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP helped to advance the arguments in the amicus brief.
The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.
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