City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: NOVEMBER 21, 2023
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THRU: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: JOANNA C. ANDERSON, CITY ATTORNEY
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution Regarding Government Speech. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
ISSUE: Designation of certain areas and events for official government speech and adoption of certain messages that can be conveyed at these areas and events.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council approve the attached resolution regarding the use of certain areas and events for official government speech and the adoption of certain messages.
BACKGROUND: On May 2, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States held, in Shurtleff v. Boston, that the city of Boston, Massachusetts violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment by barring a religious group from flying the Christian flag on a flagpole outside of Boston's city hall. Boston has three flagpoles near its city hall that generally display the flags of the United States of America, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the city of Boston. On occasion, the City allows private parties to request permission to briefly display other flags on the third flagpole, usually in conjunction with events organized by those parties. Over a period of 12 years (2005-2017), the city of Boston did not deny any of the 284 requests made by private parties to display about 50 unique flags. However, when a religious group applied to display the Christian flag, the City denied its application citing concerns that displaying a flag called "the Christian flag" would violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause by signaling that the city was endorsing a particular religion. At the time, Boston did not have a written policy regarding the use of the flagpole.
The religious group sued, alleging that Boston violated the group's First Amendment free speech rights when it barred the group from flying a fl...
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