U.S. Supreme Court Backs Christian Group on City Hall Flagpole Use

(Bloomberg) -- Boston violated the Constitution by refusing to fly a Christian civic group’s flag at city hall while raising the banners of other organizations, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled.

The justices unanimously said Boston discriminated against the group by rejecting its 2017 application after approving 50 other flags, used at 284 ceremonies over a dozen years. 

The group, Camp Constitution, was seeking to raise what it said was a Christian flag, containing a Latin red cross, for a one-hour event that would include short speeches by local clergy focusing on Boston’s history and religious heritage.

Writing for the court, Justice Stephen Breyer rejected the city’s contention that its flag-raising program was a form of government speech, meaning it wasn’t subject to the First Amendment.

“The city’s lack of meaningful involvement in the selection of flags or the crafting of their messages leads us to classify the flag raisings as private, not government, speech,” Breyer wrote in an opinion for six of the nine justices. He left open the possibility that Boston could change its policies to make clear it is speaking for itself with the flags.

In rejecting Camp Constitution application, Boston officials said they were concerned that flying the flag would send a message of endorsement of Christianity and violate the Constitution’s separate ban on government “establishment of religion.”

Three conservative justices -- Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas -- said in separate opinions that they agreed with the result but not Breyer’s reasoning. 

Writing for himself and Thomas, Gorsuch urged the court to overturn a 1971 ruling, known as Lemon v. Kurtzman, that limited the government’s power to promote religion. 

“Our Constitution was not designed to erase religion from American life; it was designed to ensure ‘respect and tolerance,’” Gorsuch wrote.

The case is Shurtleff v. Boston,  20-1800.

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