WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The late Rev. Jesse Jackson will not lie in honor in the United States Capitol Rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s office due to past precedent.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s office said it received a request from the family to have Jackson\u2019s remains lie in honor at the Capitol, but the request was denied, because of the precedent that the space is typically reserved for former presidents, the military and select officials.<\/p>\n
The civil rights leader died this week<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Amid the country\u2019s political divisions, there have been flare ups 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.<\/p>\n Recent requests had similarly been made, and denied, to honor Charlie Kirk, the slain conservative activist, and former Vice President Dick Cheney.<\/p>\n There is no specific rule about who qualifies for the honor, a decision that is controlled by concurrence from both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n The Jackson family has announced scheduled dates<\/a> for memorial services beginning next week that will honor the late reverend\u2019s 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\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n Typically, the Capitol and its Rotunda have been reserved for the \u201cmost eminent citizens,\u201d according to the Architect of the Capitol\u2019s website. It said government and military officials lay in state, while private citizens in honor.<\/p>\n In 2020, Congressman John Lewis, another veteran of the Civil Rights movement, was the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda<\/a> after a ceremony honoring his legacy was held outside on the Capitol steps due to pandemic restrictions at the time.<\/p>\n Later that year, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed services for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Capitol\u2019s Statuary Hall after agreement could not be reached for services in the Capitol\u2019s Rotunda.<\/p>\n It is rare for private citizens to be honored at the Capitol, but there is precedent \u2013 most notably Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks, in 2005, and the Reverend Billy Graham, in 2018.<\/p>\n A passionate civil rights leader and globally-minded humanitarian, Jackson\u2019s fiery speeches and dual 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns transformed American politics for generations<\/a>. Jackson\u2019s organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, became a hub for progressive organizers across the country. <\/p>\n