Summary of facts: In planning its new public safety headquarters, the City of Quincy, Massachusetts decided to erect a statue of Archangel Michael to reflect a traditional symbol among police and fire departments. The goal was to honor public servants using symbols already meaningful to the departments they serve. Before the statue could be installed, a group of residents filed suit in state court, arguing that it violates the state’s constitutional prohibition of government “subordination of any one sect or denomination to another” because Michael is a figure in the Catholic faith. The lower court agreed with the plaintiffs, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the case.

RFI’s position: The lower court did not evaluate whether defendants’ actions constituted an establishment of religion and “subordination” of other denominations, but it instead applied the Lemon test. The U.S. Supreme Court has repudiated that test at the federal level, and it is not derived from the text, history, or tradition of the state constitution. Ironically, the Lemon test burdens minority faiths especially because it prohibits the ordinary public accommodations and civic recognition that minority religious communities need to maintain a place in the public square. The Massachusetts Supreme Court should abandon the Lemon test and find that Quincy’s planned statue of Michael does not violate the state’s constitution.

Read the brief here.