After winning a U.S. Supreme Court case to get his coaching job back and igniting a firestorm over prayer in public schools, Joe Kennedy gave up just one game in Bremerton High School’s football season.
“The district has received Mr. Kennedy’s resignation and is awaiting board approval at tomorrow’s regular meeting,” spokeswoman Karen Bevers said in an email Wednesday, declining further comment.
Kennedy’s decision wasn’t exactly a surprise.
Before Friday’s game, he clearly indicated he might not stay for his part-time job as an assistant coach. He said the game was a “beautiful bow” in addition to his Supreme Court victory, which not only cleared the way for his return after an eight-year absence, but also allowed him to pray on the field. He said he couldn’t think any further into the future The.
Kennedy could not immediately be reached for comment. In a resignation letter obtained by The Seattle Times, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the district. “It is clear that the reinstatement order ordered by the Supreme Court is not being fully complied with after a series of actions aimed at diminishing my role and singling me out in what I believe constitutes retaliation on the part of the school district.”
He expressed no signs of such feelings in an interview last week, and it is not clear what actions he is referring to. Kennedy also said in the letter that he is returning to Florida, where he now lives, due to newly disclosed complications related to the deteriorating health of a family member. He previously said he moved to Pensacola to be near his wife’s father.
Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the Bremerton school district, said she argued before the Supreme Court that the case was moot because Kennedy no longer lived in Bremerton.
“For years, Kennedy and his lawyers have said he just wants his job back. We were skeptical. And now we are exactly where we warned the Supreme Court would be,” Laser said in a statement.
But it was never just about Kennedy returning to a role that was paying him about $3,000 a season at the time. (His stipend upon his return in August was $5,304.)
It was about whether and how religion can be practiced in schools and other government institutions – a flashpoint in today’s polarized culture wars. Kennedy’s supporters and critics spoke out across the country. The district then received a flood of hateful emails.
Kennedy’s critics have portrayed him as a Christian nationalist extremist, although he and his supporters say he also supports the rights of Jews and Muslims.
He said he almost got divorced because of his long dispute with the district, where his wife worked as a human resources manager. She initially opposed his legal challenge but relented, according to Kennedy, who said he continued to fight because “the Constitution and the First Amendment mean so much to me.”
He described his dilemma as being forced to “choose between my faith and my job.”
It all started in 2015 when the district learned that Kennedy was praying with students on the field and in the locker room. He had been doing this for years, but now that the District knew about it, it was targeting open service activities that could be perceived as promoting religion for fear of violating the U.S. Establishment Clause Constitution prohibiting the establishment of a state religion.
He then said he only wanted a “brief, private, personal prayer,” according to an account of the case in the Supreme Court majority opinion, which the district rejected.
A divided Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Kennedy had the right to pray under the Speech and Exercise Clauses as long as he did not force others to join him.
After the ruling, the district wrote a policy allowing coaches to pray without actively supervising the coaches’ players Keep your distance from students when prayers begin. Students can then join if necessary.
“I can’t tell them to do it or not,” Kennedy admitted last week. “If they want to join in, cool. If not, cool.”
No students did so in Friday’s game against the Mount Douglas Rams of Victoria, B.C. A larger-than-usual crowd suggested Kennedy’s supporters showed up, but none stormed the field to pray with him. as happened at a 2015 homecoming game. Scattered applause accompanied the coach’s kneeling at the 50-yard line.
Kennedy quit his full-time job at the Bremerton shipyard before moving to Florida. With his newfound fame, he has a promotional website, a book due out in October and a film about his life in the works. He speaks to political and religious groups and says politicians including Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Florida Gov. have asked for his support.
Even if Kennedy is no longer on the field, his case will likely continue to be discussed. Lawyers say the Supreme Court ruling clarifies the right of public officials to religious expression in the workplace, but leaves unclear what constitutes coercion, particularly for those who supervise young people.
Seattle Times staff reporter Scott Hanson contributed to this story.