Hal Shurtleff: ACLU did right thing in supporting Camp Constitution's free speech

To The Daily Sun,

In his recent letter to the editor, Mr. Robert Azzi congratulated me and Camp Constitution over our 9-0 Supreme Court victory but that he found my opinions and prejudices "repugnant"' While I can't say that I know all of Mr. Azzi's opinions and prejudices, I am sure that I would find some if not most equally repugnant.

The case Mr. Azzi was referring to was Shurtleff v. Boston. It concerns the City of Boston's refusal to issue us a permit to fly the Christian flag on what I call a public access flagpole. There were 19 amicus briefs on our behalf which included the American Legion, Notre Dame Law School, Catholic Vote, ACLU, the United States Justice Department, and 13 state attorneys general. While I believe we would have won our case without the amicus briefs from the ACLU and the Department of Justice, they helped give us a 9-0 decision. In its amicus brief, the ACLU made it clear that they do not support our views but believe that we had every right to fly our flag. I want to thank the ACLU for its amicus brief, and thank Mr. Azzi for his letter.

Hal Shurtleff

Alton