The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case this term that pits the two religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment against each other — on a flagpole. At issue is a request by a Christian civic group, Camp Constitution, for the City of Boston to allow a Christian flag to fly on one of two City Hall flagpoles commonly used by civic groups and movements. The city offers groups the opportunity to fly their flags briefly on the two poles to encourage civic engagement. Flags at Boston City Hall (City of Boston image) To date, the city has allowed at least 284 private organizations to raise their flags and never had turned down a request until Camp Constitution asked to fly what is commonly known as the “Christian flag” — a white background with a blue square at the upper-left corner containing a red cross. The group wanted to fly the flag for about an hour on Constitution Day 2017, to commemorate Constitution Day “and the civic and cultural contributions of the Christian community to the city of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, religious tolerance, the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.” Flags previously flown […]
