Washington, D.C. – In 2015, the Bremerton School District near Seattle, Washington fired Coach Joe Kennedy over his practice of silently praying on the field after football games. Since then, Kennedy has been embroiled in a legal battle with one simple goal – to obtain his right to coach again.
The United States Supreme Court did not grant Kennedy’s appeal to overturn the ruling of the 9th Circuit Court. All is not lost, however, as Kennedy’s case is set to return to the district court. Four Supreme Court Justices (Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas) offered the possibility of a future ruling should specific questions of fact be answered in the lower courts.
According to First Liberty, a legal organization representing Kennedy, the justices had this to say:
The justices state, “If this case were before us as an appeal within our mandatory jurisdiction, our clear obligation would be to vacate the decision below….”
From firstliberty.org, Coach Kennedy Case
While the Supreme Court did not accept the appeal, it appears they would be obligated to overturn the ruling of the 9th Circuit.
So, what was the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling? A new op-ed from one of Kennedy’s attorney’s, Mike Berry, lays out the decision below:
The 9th Circuit ruled that Kennedy’s act of praying silently and alone for 15-30 seconds after each football game is not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. But the court went even further, ruling that any time a public employee (such as a football coach, a teacher, or a janitor) engages in religious activity that is visible to the public, it’s not constitutionally protected.
From: Back to school means back to court for Coach Kennedy by Mike Berry
The ultimate question that needs answering is whether or not the religious liberty of coaches, teachers, or even janitors is protected under the First Amendment when they publicly participate in religious activity.
We may not be lawyers, but this ruling does not appear to uphold the Consitution. Looking at the circumstances of Kennedy’s religious actions, the school district violated his right to religious liberty by banning his silent and personal prayer.
If the ruling by the 9th Circuit stands, it seems a teacher cannot fold their hands and silently pray before lunch when eating around students. This is a grave blow to religious liberty in the United States.
Thankfully, folks like Coach Kennedy are willing to fight back.
I wonder although it is Bremerton, Washington, why a silent prayer after a game, would be of any interest to anyone? How did they know the coach was actually praying? Did he force anyone else to participate or cast aspersion on those who declined to join him? Who exactly was he harming? Anyone?