The American flag, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts flag, and the City of Boston flag, from left, fly outside Boston City Hall, Monday, May 2, 2022, in Boston. Shurtleff couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday evening, but his organization had cheerfully announced that the city would be flying the flag in a press release. It’s also turned down flags, such as the “straight pride” one.Ĭamp Constitution, which describes itself on its website as a Christian group that seeks to “enhance understanding of our Judeo-Christian moral heritage, our American heritage of courage and ingenuity, including the genius of our United States Constitution,” argued that because the city had allowed so many other assorted flags, this was specifically discriminating against them because they’re conservative Christians. Up through October, that was how it worked: Organizations could seek permission from the public facilities department to raise their banner, and the city often allowed it, raising flags from various organizations and countries. This means the city would be choosing to fly a specific flag - which it would physically then own, under the new proposed ordinance - rather than giving an organization permission to fly its own flag. But Breyer, in one of his final opinions before retiring, ultimately disagreed, writing that the way Boston handled the permitting process made it personal expression - and the government’s not allowed to inhibit that. Walsh’s administration had argued in court that anything flown on this the flag pole was government speech, and the city had control over what messages it wanted to send. The city had paused flag-raisings since October as SCOTUS mulled the Shurtleff case, and then on Tuesday rolled out a proposed ordinance change that would align the rules within the bounds of what Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the opinion about why the city had erred. The third as a default has the city’s own banner, but it often takes that down to flies other various various flags on its third pole, like the rainbow LGBT banner or flags of other countries - which sometimes, like when it flies the Chinese flag, draw protests. ![]() Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Shurtleff’s favor in May, overriding lower courts who’d sided with the city.īoston has three flag poles outside City Hall, with two always flying the American flag with the POW/MIA flag under it, and the state flag. Hal Shurtleff, the activist who runs the small group, has battled the city since 2017, when then-Mayor Marty Walsh refused to hoist his “Christian flag.” The U.S. Camp Constitution’s “Christian flag” will fly over Boston on Wednesday, bringing to a close a years-long battle ultimately ended by the Supreme Court - and now the city’s proposing a change to its flag-raising policies so it can gain more control over what’s up and waving.Ĭamp Constitution, a conservative Christian organization, will get its white flag with a red cross on a blue square on the city’s flag pole.
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