Bolstered by a U.S. Supreme court decision released this week, the Satanic Temple of Salem, Mass., has requested that Boston City Hall raise its flag this July for “Satanic Appreciation Week.”
The temple Tuesday tweeted a copy of its request for its flag to be flown from 11 a.m. July 23 to 2 p.m. July 29.
“The Satanic Temple replies to the Supreme Court ruling that found Boston violated First Amendment rights by refusing to fly Christian flag at City Hall Plaza,” said the tweet.
According to its website, the Satanic Temple is a religious organization that aims to “encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.” In the past, the group has “publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property,” and more.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision released Monday explained that Harold Shurtleff, the director of an organization called Camp Constitution, requested in 2017 that a “Christian flag” be raised to celebrate the Christian community. Boston’s Property Management Department said raising a religious flag could be a violation of the Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion. So, city representatives told Shurtleff that the group could hold an event on the plaza but could not raise their flag during it.
Afterwards, Shurtleff and Camp Constitution sued, claiming that Boston’s refusal violated their rights under the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause. A District Court decided in favor of the city, as well as a First Circuit court.
As of Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that “Boston did not make the raising and flying of private groups’ flags a form of government speech. That means, in turn, that Boston’s refusal to let Shurtleff and Camp Constitution raise their flag based on its religious viewpoint ‘abridg[ed]” their “freedom of speech.’”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said it is reviewing the high court’s decision while also evaluating its flag-raising program, the Associated Press reported. Wu’s office declined to confirm whether the Satanic Temple flag would be raised, said the outlet.
In November, the Satanic Temple said in a press release that it had issued a legal notice “calling for the deposition” of Wu, who had served as Boston City Council president and at that time was a mayoral candidate.
“The City Council has a religious invocation prior to its meetings and decides who may speak,” said the press release. “On three separate occasions, The Satanic Temple reached out to the Council and asked for an opportunity to deliver in an invocation. Each time, the City Council refused.”
“Wu and her council members openly admit that they decide who may and may not be allowed to deliver a prayer in the public square based on their predilections and biases,” said temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves.
Justice Stephen Breyer – who wrote the Supreme Court opinion favoring the Christian group – has announced his resignation. He is expected to step down from the bench in June or July and will be replaced by Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed earlier this year by President Joe Biden.
On the same day that opinion was delivered a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion in support of overturning Roe v. Wade’s protection of abortion rights was published in POLITICO. The Satanic Temple released a statement this week that said it would work to protect “religious abortion access” for its members.
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