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The late Rev. Jesse Jackson will not lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office due to past precedent.
Jackson’s family asked to have the civil rights leader’s remains lie in honor at the Capitol, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News. One source said the decision to deny their request was due to the fact that the ritual is typically reserved for select military and government officials, pointing to previous requests that were denied for other high profile figures, such as conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Johnson’s office confirmed the decision to the Associated Press.
The civil rights leader died this week at the age of 84. The family and some House Democrats had filed a request for Jackson to be honored at the U.S. Capitol.
There is no specific rule about who qualifies for the honor, a decision that is controlled by concurrence from both the House and Senate. Amid the country’s political divisions, there have been flareups over who is memorialized at the Capitol with a service to lie in state, or honor, in the Rotunda. During such events, the public is generally allowed to visit the Capitol and pay their respects.
The Jackson family has announced scheduled dates for memorial services beginning next week that will honor the late reverend’s life in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and South Carolina.
In a statement, the Jackson family said it had heard from leaders in both South Carolina, Jackson’s native state, and Washington offering for Jackson to be celebrated in both locations. Talks are ongoing with lawmakers about where those proceedings will take place. His final memorial services will be held in Chicago on March 6 and 7.
Typically, the Capitol and its Rotunda have been reserved for the “most eminent citizens,” according to the Architect of the Capitol’s website. It said government and military officials lay in state, while private citizens in honor.
In 2020, Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, another veteran of the Civil Rights movement, was the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda after a ceremony honoring his legacy was held outside on the Capitol steps due to pandemic restrictions at the time.
Later that year, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed services for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Capitol’s Statuary Hall after agreement could not be reached for services in the Capitol’s Rotunda.
It is rare for private citizens to be honored at the Capitol, but there is precedent – most notably Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks, in 2005, and Rev. Billy Graham, in 2018.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson criticized the House Speaker’s decision on Friday, saying it “tells you everything you need to know about Mike Johnson and his gross disregard for our Constitution and our democracy.”
A passionate civil rights leader and globally-minded humanitarian, Jackson’s fiery speeches and dual 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns transformed American politics for generations. Jackson’s organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, became a hub for progressive organizers across the country.
His unapologetic calls for a progressive economic agenda and more inclusive policies for all racial groups, religions, genders and orientations laid the groundwork for the progressive movement within the Democratic Party.
Jackson also garnered a global reputation as a champion for human rights. He conducted the release of American hostages on multiple continents and argued for greater connections between civil rights movements around the world, most notably as a fierce critic of the policies of Apartheid South Africa.
