Story perspectives

Massachusetts Court Upholds Injunction Blocking Quincy Religious Statues

8/22/2026

Summary

Story summary

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld an injunction blocking Quincy from installing two Catholic saint statues.
The 10-foot bronze statues of St. Michael and St. Florian cost $850,000.
Twelve Quincy taxpayers, with the ACLU, sued under Article 3 and the ten-taxpayer statute.
Justices said the statues likely breach Article 3 by showing government preference for Catholicism.
The statues stay stored in Randolph as the case returns to Norfolk Superior Court.

History

Historical Context

1971 Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun’s 5-4 ruling in Lemon v. Kurtzman invalidated a $5 million state aid program and created the three-pronged Establishment Clause test. In 2024 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, hearing an ACLU challenge, blocked Quincy’s $850,000 statues, applying that same test. That year global lemon production hit 23 million tonnes, highlighting the fruit’s namesake reach.

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Story summary

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld an injunction blocking Quincy from installing two Catholic saint statues.
The 10-foot bronze statues of St. Michael and St. Florian cost $850,000.
Twelve Quincy taxpayers, with the ACLU, sued under Article 3 and the ten-taxpayer statute.
Justices said the statues likely breach Article 3 by showing government preference for Catholicism.
The statues stay stored in Randolph as the case returns to Norfolk Superior Court.

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