Overview
- The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed an October 2025 injunction on Aug. 20, finding the planned 10-foot bronze statues of St. Michael and St. Florian could be seen as government endorsement of a particular religion.
- The court wrote that the statues stand alone with overt Catholic iconography rather than as part of a broader secular collection, increasing the risk they would subordinate other faiths.
- The works were commissioned by Mayor Thomas Koch, made in Italy, cost roughly $800,000–$850,000 from city funds, and remain in storage while the litigation proceeds.
- Quincy, represented by the Becket Fund, says it will continue to contest the matter in court, while plaintiffs led by the ACLU and Americans United press on in Norfolk Superior Court for a final decision.
- The ruling underscores Massachusetts’ stricter state constitutional test for religious neutrality and warns that taxpayer money already spent on the statues may not be recoverable if the city is found liable.