The Supreme Court ruled on the case in May.
The settlement will cover attorney's fees and expenses for Liberty Counsel, the religious group that filed a lawsuit against the city. Matt Staver from Liberty Counsel stated the following:
"We are pleased that, after five years of litigation and a unanimous victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, we joined with Hal Shurtleff to finally let freedom fly in Boston, the Cradle of Liberty,"
November 13, 2022
Shurtleff and Camp Constitution sought a permit from the city to fly the Christian flag on Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. The city ultimately denied their request to do so but needed to provide a sufficient reason for why it would not be allowed.
GONE TOO SOON: NYPD MOURNS FALLEN OFFICER AFTER FATAL CONFRONTATION, IS BIDEN'S AMERICA TO BLAME?
Between 2005 and 2017, the city approved a total of 284 different flags to be flown over the City Hall. Yet, for some reason, they refused to fly the Christian one. The case finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court after four lower courts ruled in favor of the city.
GONE TOO SOON: NYPD MOURNS FALLEN OFFICER AFTER FATAL CONFRONTATION, IS BIDEN'S AMERICA TO BLAME?
The Supreme Court stated that the denial rejected free speech rights and that the city must reimburse the group for their legal fees for going through all that.
Justice Stephen Breyer, typically known as a liberal justice, wrote that the city had not denied a request to fly any other flag until they were confronted with flying the Christian flag. Thus, the denial appeared to target a particular group of people's free speech rights, which would not be permitted under the Constitution.
The Court also noted that the city of Boston has no internal policies or provisions that would be a reason to deny flying this flag (or any flag whatsoever). Thus, they ruled against the city of Boston.