A former Washington high school football coach who was fired for saying a prayer on the 50-yard line after games received a significant victory from the Supreme Court.
The question was whether a public school official praying aloud in front of pupils constituted unprotected “government speech,” and if not, did it nonetheless violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court decided on Monday, 6-3, that both questions’ answer is no.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Court’s opinion, “Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress…Religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”
From 2008 until 2015, Joe Kennedy served as the junior varsity’s head coach and the varsity’s assistant coach for the Bremerton School District in Washington. He started the custom of saying a post-game prayer by himself, but students later began to join him. This developed into motivational speeches with religious overtones, according to court filings. The principal was alerted to it by an opposition coach, and the school system ordered Kennedy to stop. He did so for a short period of time before informing the school that he would resume the practice.
Media coverage of the incident and security worries arose when Kennedy declared he would resume praying on the field. People flocked to the pitch in support when he did pray after the game.
Kennedy was then given the opportunity to pray before and after games in other settings, or to do so on the 50-yard line after everyone else had left the property, but he declined, saying he would stick to his routine. Kennedy was given a leave of absence by the school district following the prayers during two additional games.
The establishment clause of the First Amendment, which protects the division of church and state, was allegedly violated, according to the school district, if Kennedy, an employee, was permitted to pray on the field during a school game.
The majority opinion stated, “That reasoning was misguided. Both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s. Nor does a proper understanding of the Amendment’s Establishment Clause require the government to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. “
According to the Court’s decision, there is a clear reason why Kennedy’s speech is protected by both the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses.