Justice Stephen Breyer, wrote for the court, “We conclude that, on balance, Boston did not make the raising and flying of private groups’ flags a form of government speech. The city’s lack of involvement in the selection of any of the flags flown over city property was presented as evidence of the private nature of the exercise. In its ruling the Court argued that the city’s flag-raising program falls under the category of private speech rather than government speech. Two lower courts had sided with the city before the case reached the high court. Other flags included a gay pride rainbow flag, a pink and blue transgender flag, and flags from foreign countries including Albania, Brazil, Ethiopia, Italy, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, China and Cuba.Īll nine justices of the Supreme Court ruled against the city of Boston. Those flags included the Turkish flag (which depicts the Islamic star and crescent) and the Portuguese flag (which uses religious imagery). According to the decision from the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, over a 12-year period, the City of Boston had permitted other groups to fly their flags at City Hall on at least 284 occasions.
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