The Supreme Court is set to hear the case of a football coach from Washington state, Joe Kennedy, who was fired for praying on the football field after a game.
Yes... he was fired for simply praying in public.
Just the News explains the details of the case:
Kennedy, a retired Marine, coached the football team from 2008 to 2015 and would kneel and quietly pray at midfield after every game.
Sounds like an extremist.
While he initially prayed alone, after several games students and players joined him, even inviting players from opposing teams.
Eventually, Kennedy started giving short motivational speeches to the players who gathered after games, which sometimes included religious content and a short prayer.
Note that these gatherings were not compulsory.
After seven years of Kennedy praying on the field after games, a school administrator from a visiting team complimented Bremerton High School's principal on the coach's practice. The school district subsequently investigated the situation, directed Kennedy to cease the ritual, denied him a religious accommodation request, implemented a new policy to stop him from praying publicly on the football field, then suspended and fired him for continuing to do so.
Visitor: "Hey, that's cool that your coach prays like that. He must really care about his team."
Woke principal: "WHAT?! I'll have his head for this!!"
According to the school district, Kennedy could not pray publicly following the end of a game while still being on duty as a coach. The district offered to let him pray in "private locations within the school building or athletic facility, or ... press box."
The school prevented one of its employees from publicly praying.
Sounds like its in the same vein as what King Darius did to Daniel before throwing him to the lions if you ask me. You can put on a rainbow and twerk before crowds to the religion of the State, but if you dare show any public faith for the God in heaven above, you get destroyed.
Kennedy filed a lawsuit with First Liberty Institute against the Bremerton School District in a federal district court in 2016, asking that he be allowed to continue coaching as the case made its way through the courts. The district court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court all denied Kennedy's request.
However, the Supreme Court sent the case back down to the district court for further litigation. The district court and the Ninth Circuit both decided for the school district. The lawsuit was refiled with the Supreme Court in September 2021, which in January decided to hear the case.
"[T]his case presents an opportunity for the Supreme Court to review — and possibly rectify— legal precedent that has been harmful to religious freedom for decades," First Liberty said last month.
You're telling me!
"Public employers, especially school districts, often misinterpret their civic obligations under the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment," argued the religious liberty legal defense group. "But now, we'll be asking that the Court clarify the interaction of these clauses."
The nonprofit law firm added that "a ruling in Coach Kennedy's favor could impact public school employees nationwide, helping safeguard their constitutional rights and ensure they won't face a difficult choice between their careers and their faith."
It's truly unbelievable that it has taken this many years for this case to be resolved.
All of the lower courts deciding in favor of the school district just shows how much more work there is to do on the courts still.
From the Daily Caller:
"What if the coach, instead of taking a knee for a prayer, took a knee during the national anthem because of moral opposition to racism," Justice Clarence Thomas asked. He also argued the prayers could not be interpreted as government speech since the school had condemned the behavior.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett also argued that Kennedy's prayers did not violate the First Amendment because he was not speaking on behalf of the government when he prayed.
What's more, what if he had sat in the lunchroom and blessed his food? Is that a fireable offense now?
It's good to see the conservative justices have already signaled that they are sympathetic to Coach Kennedy's case.
The First Amendment (which merely outlines your God-given rights) is under attack for Christians, and this is a big chance for the Supreme Court to lay out serious protections and uphold it as it was meant to be.
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