On Tuesday (Jan. 18), the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in Shurtleff v. Boston, a case that asks the court to hold that government officials may not exclude religious expression from the public square. At issue is whether the city of Boston can exclude a community group from flying its flag in front of Boston City Hall because the flag features a Latin cross. For many years, Boston has sponsored a program giving private citizens the opportunity to fly flags representing community groups. A wide variety of groups, including the Chinese Progressive Association and Boston Pride, have participated. Boston has never denied an application for the community flag program until the group Camp Constitution applied to fly its flag — a white and blue flag with a red cross. A Boston city official told Camp Constitution that — as a government institution — the city could not fly a religious flag on its flagpole. Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative filed an amicus brief in the case to ensure that government actors — like the city of Boston — may not create benefits, opportunities or platforms that exclude religious believers. Religious Liberty Initiative […]
