Shurtleff v. Boston

Summarized by:

  • Court: United States Supreme Court
  • Area(s) of Law: First Amendment
  • Date Filed: May 2, 2022
  • Case #: 20-1800
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: BREYER, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SOTOMAYOR, KAGAN, KAVANAUGH, and BARRETT, JJ., joined. KAVANAUGH, J., filed a concurring opinion. ALITO, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS and GORSUCH, JJ., joined. GORSUCH, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
  • Full Text Opinion

When a government does not speak for itself, it may not exclude speech based on “religious viewpoint”; doing so “constitutes impermissible viewpoint discrimination.” Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U. S. 98, 112 (2001).

 Petitioners filed an action against Respondents after Respondents refused to allow Petitioners to raise a “Christian flag” on a flagpole outside of City Hall because it could be a violation of the Establishment Clause. Petitioners argued that Respondents’ refusal to let them raise their flag violated among other things, the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause. The District Court held that flying a private groups’ flag from City Hall amounted to government speech and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether the flags Respondents allowed groups to raise and fly express government speech and whether Respondents could deny Petitioners’ flag-raising request. The Court held that Respondents’ flag-raising program does not amount to government speech. The Court reasoned that the public’s perception as to who is speaking when doing so and the extent to which the government has actively shaped or controlled flag flying, and ceremonies demonstrates a limited amount of control over the proceedings. The Court found that the flag raising did not constitute government speech and restricting Petitioners was a violation of the Free Speech Clause. REVERSED AND REMANDED.

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