A settlement has been reached in a case between the city of Boston and a Christian legal organization after the city refused to fly a Christian flag outside of City Hall.
The case had made its way up the U.S. Supreme Court, but now, the settlement will see the city payout $2.1 million years after Hal Shurtleff and his Camp Constitution group were determined to have had their rights violated. Shurtleff initially asked the city to display one of three flags to mark Constitution Day in 2017.
The settlement was announced on Tuesday by Liberty Counsel and is expected to cover attorneys' fees and other costs accrued through the nearly five-year legal battle.
Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver shared a statement about the ruling after half a decade of fighting the case in court.
"We are pleased that after five years of litigation and a unanimous victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, we joined with Hal Shurtleff to finally let freedom fly in Boston, the Cradle of Liberty," Staver said in a statement.
In May, the high court saw the case and unanimously ruled that the city violated the free speech rights of Shurtleff when they denied his request to fly the flag due to his "religious viewpoint."
Flags flying outside the building typically include the U.S., state, and city flag, though sometimes, it is replaced with another for temporary purposes. The city had approved 284 consecutive applications to fly other flags until Shurtleff was denied.
On Aug. 3, for a few hours, the flag finally flew outside of City Hall while activists cheered and sang songs of praise.
The city has since passed an ordinance that clarifies its rules for flying alternative flags outside of the building.
The city shared in a statement that the opposing counsel was entitled to attorneys' fees because they had won the case. The city's Law Department determined that the sum of $2.125 million was reasonable after reviewing billing statements.
"Settlement at this time also allows the City to avoid the costs and uncertainty associated with further litigation in this case," the city statement said.
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