The Supreme Court appears to be trying to rule in favor of a high school football coach who was put on leave for praying at the 50-yard line after his team’s games.
Disputes in court last almost two hours, although only one is scheduled. The case pits the First Amendment right to free speech against the separation of church and state.
While the school had argued that they did not want students to feel pressured into joining Joseph Kennedy in prayer, Kennedy’s attorneys argued that their client only offered silent, solitary prayers of thanks after his team’s games.
Kennedy, an assistant high school football coach for the Marines and Washington State, said the Bremerton School District violated its religious freedom by refusing to let him continue to pray after midfield games after students prayed with him in September 2015.
District attorneys said Kennedy was allowed to pray alone, but after three more counts of the coach praying with students on the field and in locker rooms, he was placed on administrative leave and his contract was terminated in 2016, the New York Times reported.
Former Bremerton High School football coach Joseph Kennedy (pictured in March), a Marine, said the district violated its freedom of religion by refusing to let him continue to pray at the 50-yard line after games. The Supreme Court will hear his case on Monday
Despite the school district’s order, Kennedy was pictured praying while surrounded by students in October 2015. His attorney’s claim that preventing him from praying violates his religious liberty, while the district claims that allowing him to lead prayer is a violation of the student’s own religious liberty
Kennedy said he would like to return to the district to train again if he wins the case
The district added that it received a series of complaints and threats after learning of Kennedy’s prayers that he allegedly influenced students to join him.
Richard B. Katskee, an attorney for the Bremerton School District, said the school has the right to ask staff members to refrain from public prayer if students feel pressured to join. But some of the court’s conservative judges punched holes in that argument.
They said the school initially argued that they had to stop Kennedy from praying because the school was perceived as a proponent of the religion. They suggested that the fear of coercion was an afterthought. ‘
“It’s not audible to all players,” Judge Brett Kavanaugh said. “They’re not all here. You don’t have to be there. It’s not a team event. …You rely on it being visible, and then the question is how far does that go? The coach crosses himself just before the game. Could a school fire the carriage for the sign of the cross?’
Americans United for Separation of Church and State’s Katskee said such a display would be “perfectly fine” as long as the coach doesn’t address the team or put themselves first.
“I don’t know how we could write an opinion that would draw a line on not putting yourself at the center of attention as the head coach of a game,” Kavanaugh said.
But Liberal Justice Elena Kagan hinted the school may be concerned that students may feel pressured to participate in prayer to win the coach’s favour.
Kagan said the school might have thought, “We’re concerned that the students will feel like he can or can’t put me in a football game. He can give me an A in math class or not. And that’s a kind of coercion that’s inappropriate for 16-year-olds,” Kagan said.
Paul Clement, an attorney representing Kennedy, said that would be a problem if he said the prayer as part of a post-game pep talk, but not if he’s “alone in midfield giving a 15-second fleeting prayer.” “.
The harsh questioning of the conservative judges comes as no surprise, since they issued a public statement on the preliminary ruling process following a lower court ruling against Kennedy.
Kennedy, pictured with students after the 2015 game, said he never forced students to join him. At least one player came forward anonymously and said they felt pressured to play
The school district said Kennedy was not allowed to lead prayers with students on the field after they joined him in 2015 (pictured). After repeated incidents, the district decided to terminate his contract in 2016, and Kennedy chose not to reapply
When the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that Kennedy was acting as a government employee and that his prayers were not protected under the First Amendment, Justice Samuel Alito, on behalf of himself and Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, wrote in a statement: “The Ninth Circuit’s understanding of the right to free speech for public school teachers is troubling and may warrant future review.”
“What is perhaps most troubling about the Ninth Circuit’s opinion is language that can be understood to mean that a coach’s duty to set a good example requires that the coach refrain from any manifestation of their religious beliefs – even if the Coach obviously not active is mandatory,” wrote Alito.
Judge Milan Smith, author of the three-man panel that ruled against Kennedy, wrote that “Kennedy made it a point to combine religion with football.”
“He led the team in prayer in the dressing room before each game, and some players also joined him in his post-game prayer, where his practice eventually evolved into full-blown religious speeches and prayers with players from both teams after Game conducted with the players still on the field and the fans in the stands.’
Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, another Ninth Circuit judge, one of 11 who unsuccessfully requested that the full court hear the case again, said the panel’s opinion was wrong.
“It goes without saying that teachers should not take their first supplemental protections ‘at the schoolhouse gate,'” he wrote, citing a 1969 Supreme Court decision. “But the ruling in this case erases those constitutional protections by introducing a new rule announces that any speech by a public school teacher or coach while on duty and within earshot of others will be subject to total government scrutiny.”
Retiring Clinton-appointed Judge Stephen Breyer said Kennedy v. Bremerton School District “might be a case about fact and not really much about the law.”
Kennedy claims that praying at the 50-yard is his own personal ritual, which he has been performing since 2008, and that he has never asked students to join him.
After a few games, a few players asked him what he was doing and he told them he was “thank God for you” before a few players, saying they were Christians, asked if they could join.
“It was never something where it was mandatory,” he told the Times.
Although Kennedy claims that no one ever felt pressured to join him, a student player had come forward anonymously to say that despite his own beliefs, he attended one of the prayers for fear of losing playing time.
Upon learning of Kennedy’s practice in 2015, the school district told him he needed to stop praying with students or engaging in open religious activities while he was on duty as a coach. He continued to pray in the field, although his lawyers said he had stopped leading students and was placed on paid leave.
His contract expired and he did not apply to coach the following year, the school says.
A decision is expected before the court goes on summer recess.