YEAH! Supreme Court hands First Amendment victory to praying football coach
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in a 6-3 opinion in favor of a former high school football coach who was fired from his job for his postgame prayers on the field.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, arguing the fear of offending the Constitution's establishment clause does not require the government "to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike."
“Joseph Kennedy lost his job as a high school football coach because he knelt at midfield after games to offer a quiet prayer of thanks,” Gorsuch added, according to court documents.
The legal fight between Kennedy , the former coach, and the Bremerton, Washington , school district began in 2015, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court in 2019, when justices declined to take it and said the case was for lower courts to decide.
Following additional proceedings that failed again in lower courts, Kennedy asked the Supreme Court for a second time to hear his case, and justices agreed to do so in January of this year.
Kennedy, who coached football for eight years and previously served in the Marine Corps for nearly two decades, told the Washington Examiner in a January interview that he began having solitary postgame prayers in 2008 at the 50-yard line after each game as students gradually began joining him.
"A couple of the kids came up to me, and they said, 'Hey, coach, what are you doing up there?' And I said, 'I'm just giving thanks to God for what you guys just did out there on the football field.' They asked if they could join. 'Of course,' I said. 'This is America, of course, you could join,'" Kennedy said.
When school officials learned about Kennedy's prayers, they sought to compromise by offering him time to pray before and after the games, away from the stands where nobody could see him. Kennedy objected to the terms and continued praying after games on the 50-yard line until he was eventually placed on paid leave.
The school's primary dispute with Kennedy's actions stemmed from the fact that he served as an influential leader representing the school, potentially making some nonreligious students who may not wish to participate in his kneeling postgame prayers feel pressured to join him and other players on the team.
Following the decision, Kennedy said he couldn't "stop smiling" and thanked his supporters, adding that the ruling proved "I'm not insane," according to a Fox News interview.
Asked whether he would return to the field for coaching, Kennedy said, "Soon as they, the school district, says, 'Hey, come back,' I am there. Absolutely. First play."
The school district said in a press release it was ready to move on from the "distraction of this seven-year legal battle" and continue its focus on providing students with an adequate education.
"The Bremerton School District’s priorities have always been protecting the rights and safety of students while ensuring that they receive an exemplary education. That’s why, when we learned that a district employee was leading students in prayer, we followed the law and acted to protect the religious freedom of all students and their families," school officials said Monday in a press release.
Karen Bevers, a spokeswoman for the school, told the Washington Examiner that "the District will comply with the Court’s ruling, even as we continue to ensure — as we must — that employees don’t coerce or pressure students to pray or take part in religious exercises contrary to the students’ and their families’ faith."
As to whether Kennedy would be called back for coaching opportunities, Bevers said: "The District is assessing the decision and exactly what it means. We cannot confirm at this time whether Mr. Kennedy will be coaching in the fall."
Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and chief counsel for the First Liberty Institute, the group representing Kennedy, called the ruling a “a tremendous victory for Coach Kennedy and religious liberty for all Americans."
“Our Constitution protects the right of every American to engage in private religious expression, including praying in public, without fear of getting fired. We are grateful that the Supreme Court recognized what the Constitution and law have always said — Americans are free to live out their faith in public," Shackelford added.
The high court's liberal bloc, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer, wrote a dissent.
Citing the same section of the Bill of Rights that defends free speech and the free exercise of religion, Sotomayor argued against the majority, noting the Constitution also protects students who have a right to education free from government-exercised religion.
“Official-led prayer strikes at the core of our constitutional protections for the religious liberty of students and their parents,” Sotomayor wrote.
Sotomayor added that the decision “elevates one individual’s interest in personal religious exercise, in the exact time and place of that individual’s choosing, over society’s interest in protecting the separation between church and state.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-...oe-kennedy
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in a 6-3 opinion in favor of a former high school football coach who was fired from his job for his postgame prayers on the field.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, arguing the fear of offending the Constitution's establishment clause does not require the government "to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike."
“Joseph Kennedy lost his job as a high school football coach because he knelt at midfield after games to offer a quiet prayer of thanks,” Gorsuch added, according to court documents.
The legal fight between Kennedy , the former coach, and the Bremerton, Washington , school district began in 2015, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court in 2019, when justices declined to take it and said the case was for lower courts to decide.
Following additional proceedings that failed again in lower courts, Kennedy asked the Supreme Court for a second time to hear his case, and justices agreed to do so in January of this year.
Kennedy, who coached football for eight years and previously served in the Marine Corps for nearly two decades, told the Washington Examiner in a January interview that he began having solitary postgame prayers in 2008 at the 50-yard line after each game as students gradually began joining him.
"A couple of the kids came up to me, and they said, 'Hey, coach, what are you doing up there?' And I said, 'I'm just giving thanks to God for what you guys just did out there on the football field.' They asked if they could join. 'Of course,' I said. 'This is America, of course, you could join,'" Kennedy said.
When school officials learned about Kennedy's prayers, they sought to compromise by offering him time to pray before and after the games, away from the stands where nobody could see him. Kennedy objected to the terms and continued praying after games on the 50-yard line until he was eventually placed on paid leave.
The school's primary dispute with Kennedy's actions stemmed from the fact that he served as an influential leader representing the school, potentially making some nonreligious students who may not wish to participate in his kneeling postgame prayers feel pressured to join him and other players on the team.
Following the decision, Kennedy said he couldn't "stop smiling" and thanked his supporters, adding that the ruling proved "I'm not insane," according to a Fox News interview.
Asked whether he would return to the field for coaching, Kennedy said, "Soon as they, the school district, says, 'Hey, come back,' I am there. Absolutely. First play."
The school district said in a press release it was ready to move on from the "distraction of this seven-year legal battle" and continue its focus on providing students with an adequate education.
"The Bremerton School District’s priorities have always been protecting the rights and safety of students while ensuring that they receive an exemplary education. That’s why, when we learned that a district employee was leading students in prayer, we followed the law and acted to protect the religious freedom of all students and their families," school officials said Monday in a press release.
Karen Bevers, a spokeswoman for the school, told the Washington Examiner that "the District will comply with the Court’s ruling, even as we continue to ensure — as we must — that employees don’t coerce or pressure students to pray or take part in religious exercises contrary to the students’ and their families’ faith."
As to whether Kennedy would be called back for coaching opportunities, Bevers said: "The District is assessing the decision and exactly what it means. We cannot confirm at this time whether Mr. Kennedy will be coaching in the fall."
Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and chief counsel for the First Liberty Institute, the group representing Kennedy, called the ruling a “a tremendous victory for Coach Kennedy and religious liberty for all Americans."
“Our Constitution protects the right of every American to engage in private religious expression, including praying in public, without fear of getting fired. We are grateful that the Supreme Court recognized what the Constitution and law have always said — Americans are free to live out their faith in public," Shackelford added.
The high court's liberal bloc, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer, wrote a dissent.
Citing the same section of the Bill of Rights that defends free speech and the free exercise of religion, Sotomayor argued against the majority, noting the Constitution also protects students who have a right to education free from government-exercised religion.
“Official-led prayer strikes at the core of our constitutional protections for the religious liberty of students and their parents,” Sotomayor wrote.
Sotomayor added that the decision “elevates one individual’s interest in personal religious exercise, in the exact time and place of that individual’s choosing, over society’s interest in protecting the separation between church and state.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-...oe-kennedy
