Freedom of Religion and Belief

Superior Court ruled 10-foot statues of Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Florian likely violate state constitution’s religious neutrality requirement.

Norfolk Superior Court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the planned installation of two large statues of Catholic saints outside the entrance of the new public safety headquarters in Quincy.

Reproductive advocacy groups, abortion care providers, privacy and technology experts, LGBTQ+ organizations, and others called on state lawmakers to pass the Location Shield Act.

Where do Boston City Council candidates stand on critical issues impacting the daily lives of Boston residents?

In May 2025, a multifaith group of Quincy residents and taxpayers filed a lawsuit to stop the planned installation of two large religious statues at the entrance of the city’s new public safety building. The plaintiffs are members of diverse faiths who do not want their government officials and publicly-owned property to promote specific religious beliefs. Their lawsuit explains that the plan — conceived and spearheaded by Mayor Thomas Koch — promotes one religion over others, and religion over nonreligion, violating the Massachusetts Constitution. The Patriot Ledger published the first report about Quincy Mayor Koch’s plan to display two ten-foot-tall bronze statues of Catholic saints outside the entrance of Quincy’s new public safety building, which will house the Police Department’s new headquarters. According to the lawsuit, the mayor had already commissioned the statues — with a cost to taxpayers of at least $850,000 — by the time the plans were uncovered by local media. Although the City Council voted numerous times to approve funding for the new public safety building, Mayor Koch’s plan to commission and install the statues was never presented or discussed at those meetings, and the public was never given an opportunity to weigh in on it. At a council meeting later that month, the mayor’s staff dismissed all concerns about the cost, transparency, and legality of the plan. In the weeks following news of the religious statues, multiple groups wrote letters to the mayor and City Council — including the ACLU of Massachusetts, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation — raising serious constitutional concerns. In addition, a group of local faith leaders from the Quincy Interfaith Network issued a statement to the Mayor objecting to the plan. The lawsuit — filed by the ACLU of Massachusetts, the ACLU, Americans United, and Freedom From Religion Foundation — alleges that the planned religious statues violate Article 3 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights by imposing religious symbols upon all who work in, visit, or pass by the public safety building; by conveying the message that Quincy is exclusively a Catholic community and that non-Catholics do not belong or are less valued; and by excessively entangling the City with religion.

The ACLU of Massachusetts is suing on behalf of a woman in Belchertown who was ordered--unlawfully--by the trustees of her condominium to remove a "Black Lives Matter" sign that she had placed in front of her unit.

We're challenging President Trump's unconstitutional ban on Muslims.