Humanists Celebrate First Circuit Ruling Upholding the Establishment Clause

Boston City Hall (Photo by CDMA on Unsplash)

For Immediate Release

Contact: Roy Speckhardt, rspeckhardt@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 ext. 109

(Washington, DC, January 25, 2021) –The American Humanist Association (AHA) celebrates the recent First Circuit ruling upholding the City of Boston’s refusal to fly a Christian flag outside of city hall. The AHA was one of several organizations to sign an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief defending Boston’s refusal under the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

“While this is a victory no doubt, the fact that a federal appeals court even had to entertain the question of whether a city can refuse a Christian flag is itself alarming,” AHA Legal Director and Senior Counsel Monica Miller opined. Miller explained, “The Christian right is using the guise of ‘religious freedom’ to eradicate separation of church and state and this case is but one example.” “We are grateful the First Circuit reached the only correct conclusion, but it is scary to think how this case would have ended in a different circuit or the Supreme Court.”

Co-signers of the brief included the Methodist Federation for Social Action, the Hindu American Foundation, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, amongst others.

AHA Executive Director Roy Speckhardt observed: “It is a relief to see that federal courts still respect the separation of church and state and understand the harm religious displays on government property can cause.”

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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms a responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.

Special thanks to the Louis J. Appignani Foundation for their support of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.