The Satanic Temple requests that Boston fly its flag after Supreme Court ruling
By Jenn Selva and Shawna Mizelle, CNN
The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts is requesting that Boston fly its flag, after the Supreme Court ruled this week that the city had violated the First Amendment rights of a Christian group when it denied them flying their flag outside of City Hall.
According to a copy of the request tweeted by The Satanic Temple, the group is asking Boston to fly the flag for “Satanic Appreciation Week” on July 23-29. The Satanic Temple said its request was in response to the recent ruling.
CNN reached out to The Satanic Temple for comment but did not immediately hear back.
A spokesperson from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said the office was “carefully reviewing the Court’s decision and its recognition of city governments’ authority to operate similar programs,” adding: “As we consider next steps, we will ensure that future City of Boston programs are aligned with this decision.”
Boston, according to the city’s website, no longer accepts flag raising applications as of October 19, 2021.
The push comes after the nation’s highest court unanimously ruled on Monday that Boston had violated the First Amendment rights of a group seeking to briefly raise a Christian flag atop a city flagpole outside of City Hall as a part of a city program celebrating Boston’s greater community.
The court said that the flag display amounted to a public forum and because many other groups were allowed to raise their flags in celebration of the Boston community, the city could not discriminate on the basis of the religious group’s viewpoint without violating the Constitution.
“We conclude that, on balance, Boston did not make the raising and flying of private groups’ flags a form of government speech,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote.
The Satanic Temple, according to its Twitter account, was founded in 2013 and is the only federally recognized international (non-theistic) religious Satanic organization.
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