SJC deals major setback to Quincy mayor’s plan to erect religious statues outside public safety building

The state’s highest court unanimously ruled against Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch’s plan to install two 10-foot-tall bronze statues outside the city’s public safety building, concluding Thursday that they may pose a constitutional issue due to their religious imagery.

The two statues depict St. Michael and St. Florian, the Catholic patron saints of police and firefighters, respectively. In its decision, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) affirmed a lower-court judge’s ruling to pause installation of the statues.

Discord over the statues reached a boiling point in May 2025 when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued on behalf of 15 Quincy residents, asserting that their installation would violate the Massachusetts Constitution by promoting Catholicism. Later that year, a judge granted a preliminary injunction to stop the installation and declined the city’s motion to dismiss the case.

Koch and the city of Quincy appealed, claiming that the statues are “permissible under art,” but the SJC determined Thursday that the lower-court judge “did not abuse his discretion in granting the preliminary injunction,” according to the ruling. Furthermore, the court observed that the residents suing the city are likely to succeed in their opposition to the statues because of how overt and specific the religious imagery is.

“Indeed, one is an archangel with wings, and the other is portrayed as performing one of the miracles for which he is venerated by the Catholic Church,” the SJC wrote in its ruling. “The likelihood that these statues of religious figures closely associated with the Catholic faith could be viewed by the public as endorsement of a particular religion, and thus subordination of others, is enhanced by the fact that the statues are not part of a larger collection of statues and monuments that includes nonreligious ones, or statues of figures of particular importance to other religions.”

Though the ruling is a significant setback for Koch’s installation plan, the SJC ultimately doesn’t have the last word. Despite the ruling’s indication that the statues will likely be deemed unconstitutional in any ensuing lawsuit, Koch’s spokesperson indicated in a statement to The Boston Globe that the mayor wouldn’t end his efforts here.

“Quincy’s firefighters and police put their lives on the line for this city every day, and these statues were chosen to honor their bravery, service, and sacrifice,” Koch’s spokesperson said. “This decision is disappointing, but it is preliminary, and we will continue to fight for the ability to commemorate our first responders as the law permits.”

Further complicating the debacle is the lack of communication between Koch and the Quincy community over the statues. In February 2025, Dan Minton, a Quincy City Councilor at the time, said the council was unaware of the $850,000 statues when approving the overall building project.

To make matters worse, residents and the council soon found out that the city had already paid more than $760,000 to the artist, a contracted Italian sculptor. The SJC highlighted this use of taxpayer dollars to fund a contentious and unapproved public project as a key point in its decision.

“As the motion judge determined, the plaintiffs have demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that the city has violated important constitutional rights and has spent, and plans to continue to spend, taxpayer dollars in violation of those rights that will not be recoverable,” the court wrote in its ruling. “Furthermore … were the statues to be installed for the duration of this litigation, the plaintiffs and other members of the public would have to confront them regularly, experiencing feelings of subordination given their own religious beliefs or nonbeliefs.”

The injunction will therefore remain in place as litigation continues in Norfolk Superior Court. The ACLU celebrated the SJC’s decision, calling it a “landmark ruling” in a press release.

“Here in Massachusetts, our state constitution is clear: the government must remain neutral in matters of religion and must not elevate one faith above others,” Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in the press release. “As Quincy residents and taxpayers, our clients believe that installing these plainly religious statues would undermine those ideals. We are proud to represent these courageous plaintiffs, and we look forward to continuing to litigate the merits of this case in Superior Court.”