Overview
- A three-judge panel found the City Hall citizen flag pole operated as a forum for private speech, not government expression, from 2017 to 2024.
- The court said Nashua engaged in viewpoint discrimination by approving some messages and denying requests to fly a 'Save Women's Sports' banner and an 'Appeal to Heaven' flag.
- The decision reverses a New Hampshire trial court that had deemed the displays government speech and concluded the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed.
- The panel directed the district court to issue interim declaratory relief and applied the Supreme Court’s 2022 Boston flag ruling to Nashua’s program.
- Nashua’s attorney said the city has halted public flag invitations, adopted a policy removing the 'citizen’s flag pole' designation, and has not decided whether to appeal.