Submitted by: Jackie Juntti
Praise the Lord!!!!!!!
Supreme Court sides with Bremerton’s praying coach
Joseph Kennedy, a former high school football coach in Bremerton, prayed with his players and other students at school.... (Ruth Fremson / The New York Times, file)
By
Seattle Times staff
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for a former high school football coach in Bremerton, who prayed with his players and other students at school, could legally do so under his First Amendment right to free speech.
The high court ruled Monday in Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District that assistant football coach Joseph Kennedy was wrongfully terminated after refusing to stop hosting the prayer sessions.
More about former coach Joseph Kennedy
- Former Bremerton coach in Supreme Court spotlight says he wants his old job back (May 2, 2022)
- During arguments, Supreme Court leans toward Bremerton coach in case on school prayer (April 25, 2022)
- WA coach’s prayers prompt Supreme Court test of religious freedom (April 24, 2022)
- Lawsuit against Bremerton school district thrown out (2020)
- Appeals court refuses to reinstate Bremerton coach who prayed after games (2017)
- Praying football coach Joe Kennedy sues Bremerton School District (2016)
- Bremerton coach Joe Kennedy, who prayed at games, placed on leave (2015)
- Crowd prays with coach as he defies school district (2015)
The ruling could speak to the decades-old argument over prayer in public schools. It also tackles questions of balancing teachers and coaches’ religious and free-speech rights with students’ rights to not feel pressured to participate in religious practices.
Court justices heard arguments in the case on April 25.
Kennedy, who served in the Marine Corps for nearly two decades, started coaching at the school in 2008 and initially prayed alone on the 50-yard line at the end of games. But, he said, students started joining him, and over time he began giving short, inspirational talks with religious references.
The district learned of his prayers and talks and asked him to stop. Initially, he said he would comply and stopped leading students in prayer in the locker room and on the field. But he wanted to continue praying on the field himself, with students free to join if they wished.
Lawyers for the school district say administrators had no problem letting Kennedy pray separately from students or letting him return to the field to pray after students left. But they could not allow him to pray with students midfield immediately after games without the risk it would be seen as government endorsement of religion, they said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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