Coach’s Prayers Prompt Supreme Court Test of Religious Freedom

Mr. Kennedy’s early years had been troubled, he stated, however he straightened out within the Marine Corps, serving for twenty years. Returning house in 2006, he went to work on the shipyard. Not lengthy after, he was supplied a spot as an assistant coach, a giant dedication that got here with a modest stipend of about $4,500 for the season.

As he weighed the supply, he occurred upon a soccer film on tv, “Dealing with the Giants.”

“God got here down and simply gut-punched me and answered the query of whether or not I ought to coach,” Mr. Kennedy stated. The reply: “Completely.”

The thought of thanking God after video games got here from the film, he stated: “I type of plagiarized it.”

Mr. Kennedy stated he prayed after video games for years with out controversy. If mother and father requested what he was doing, he stated he was “simply thanking God.” In the event that they stated they didn’t need their kids to participate, he advised them that was superb.

He additionally led college students in prayer within the locker room, a apply neither he nor his legal professionals now defend.

The only problem within the case, stated Hiram Sasser, a lawyer with First Liberty Institute, which represents Mr. Kennedy, was whether or not he may supply a silent, solitary prayer on the sphere after the sport.

“If someone comes close to you,” Mr. Sasser added, “you don’t must run away.”

The college district countered that the context mattered, noting {that a} choose on the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, had criticized what he referred to as “a deceitful narrative” created by Mr. Kennedy’s legal professionals.