Federal Court Upholds Free Speech Rights In ‘Appeal To Heaven’ Flag Case | Headline USA

(Mark E. Johnson, Contributor) A pro-liberty couple in New Hampshire has secured their second free speech victory against the leftist-controlled municipalities that now dominate much of the once-conservative state, due in large part to the influx of liberals from deep blue Massachusetts.

A federal appeals court ruled that Beth and Stephen Scaer’s First Amendment rights were violated when the City of Nashua refused to fly three of their flags on the “Citizen Flag Pole” in City Hall Plaza on ideological grounds.

Two of the Scaers’ flags – the Detrans Awareness flag and the Save Women’s Sports flag – protest the inclusion of so-called trans athletes in school sports that do not align with the athletes’ biological sex.

The third was the Appeal to Heaven flag, a historic American Revolutionary War banner that expresses reliance upon God, particularly in the face of tyranny.

Despite the flag’s 250-year history, woke leftists and their sympathizers in the mainstream media have attempted to associate it with J6, with mixed results.

A federal court initially rejected the Scaers’ argument, saying that access to the city’s flag pole is not protected by First Amendment free speech rights.

The Scaers appealed. Beth Scaer called the court ruling a win for people of all viewpoints:

“[The Appeal to Heaven flag] is a free speech issue. We shouldn’t be censored by the government. That’s right there in the Bill of Rights.”

Nashua’s Citizen Flag Pole was intended for community members to fly a flag to support their cultural heritage or a worthy cause. Appealing to Heaven is apparently not deemed a worthy cause by the powers-that-be in Nashua City Hall. The city eliminated the Citizen Flag Pole shortly after the Scaers filed suit in 2024.

Earlier last year, Beth Scaer and her attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech settled a First Amendment free speech lawsuit against the Kearsarge School District for $33,000.
In that case, Scaer was banned from speaking after referring to a ‘trans’ student who is male but masquerades as a female in order to play girls’ sports as a ‘tall boy.’ The chairperson of the school board deemed Scaer’s choice of words to be ‘derogatory.’

Based in part on reporting by New Hampshire Public Radio.

Mark E. Johnson is the former editor of Headline Health and was a New Hampshire resident for 25 years. He now lives in South Carolina.

“And where the Body of the People, or any single Man, is deprived of their Right, or is under the Exercise of a power without right, and have no Appeal on Earth, there they have a liberty to appeal to Heaven, whenever they judge the Cause of sufficient moment.” – John Locke

PREVIOUSLY:

NOTE: Jim Donchess is currently serving his fourth [non-consecutive] four-year term as mayor of New Hampshire’s second largest city.

Opinion by Beth Scaer, July 2, 2025

Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess has no problem with permitting the Satanic Temple to march behind him in the Nashua Pride Parade holding a flag and banner praising Satan, but the Pine Tree Flag is supposedly too controversial to fly on Nashua City Hall Plaza.

Last year, Mayor Donchess turned down my request to fly the Pine Tree flag at Nashua City Hall Plaza, saying that it’s “not in harmony with the message that the City wishes to express and endorse.”

Does that mean the city endorses Satanism? This year, he gave the green light for the Satanic Temple to march in the Nashua Pride Parade on June 21, just ahead of the communist Party for Socialism and Liberation. These are examples of personal whims, not free speech. The parade begins marching from City Hall Plaza, and no one joins the parade without Mayor Donchess’ approval.

So we know what Mayor Donchess likes, but what else does he hate besides the Pine Tree flag? Well, he’s also refused to let us raise flags recognizing that women’s sports are for human females and recognizing Detransition Awareness Day above City Hall Plaza.

He doesn’t appear to be overly fond of Israel, either. During oral arguments last year for my lawsuit against Nashua for refusing my request to fly the Pine Tree Flag, Nashua’s Assistant Corporation Counsel Jonathan Barnes said that the Israeli flag is also too controversial to fly on City Hall Plaza.

Nashua’s policy claims:

The City Hall Plaza is not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by the public. Any message sought to be permitted will be allowed only if it is in harmony with city policies and messages that the city wishes to express and endorse.

What does this mean in practice? The Mayor is using public forums to promote his own radical agenda.

The Satanic Temple marching in the Nashua Pride Parade carrying a banner with the message “Pro-Rationalism. Pro-Satan” and an American flag with the stars replaced by a pentagram and a head of Baphomet

Beth Scaer is a New Hampshire resident.