Praying Washington state football coach asking U.S. Supreme Court for his job back

SEATTLE — Editor’s word: The above video initially aired March 10, 2022.

The clock ran down on the finish of the homecoming recreation and spectators stormed the soccer discipline, knocking over members of the highschool band — all to assemble round an assistant coach as he took a knee in prayer, surrounded by uniformed gamers.

Six years later, after dropping his teaching job and repeatedly dropping in courtroom, that former Washington state coach, Joe Kennedy, will take his arguments earlier than the U.S. Supreme Court docket on Monday, saying the Bremerton Faculty District violated his First Modification rights by refusing to let him proceed praying at midfield instantly after video games. 4 conservative justices have already expressed issues with how his case has been dealt with.

Kennedy’s effort to get his job again helped earn him an look at a 2016 Donald Trump rally and shortly grew to become a cultural touchstone, pitting public college staff’ non secular liberties in opposition to what his critics describe as longstanding rules separating church and state and defending college students from non secular coercion.

Attorneys for the college district mentioned officers had no downside letting Kennedy pray individually from college students or letting him return to the sphere to hope after the scholars left. However permitting him to hope at midfield instantly after video games with college students there risked being seen as authorities endorsement of faith.

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Whereas Kennedy insists he by no means cared whether or not college students participated within the prayers and he by no means requested them to affix him, not less than one participant — anonymously — later reported collaborating opposite to his personal beliefs, for worry of dropping taking part in time.

“This case is difficult well-established case regulation that has protected college students’ non secular freedom for many years, and that has been supported by conservative and liberal justices alike,” mentioned Rachel Laser, chief govt of Individuals United for Separation of Church and State, which is representing the college district. “If the courtroom guidelines the mistaken means, academics and coaches may strain college students to hope in each public college classroom throughout the nation.”

For Kennedy’s supporters, the ninth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals’ holding within the case would power public college staff to drop their non secular identities on the schoolhouse door — one thing they are saying the Structure doesn’t require.

“If a trainer prays over her lunch within the cafeteria and college students can see her — simply that little blessing over her salad — that is sufficient to terminate that trainer, in line with the college district,” mentioned Jeremy Dys, an legal professional with First Liberty Institute, which is representing Kennedy.

Kennedy, a former Marine whose day job was on the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, started teaching soccer at Bremerton Excessive in 2008. He was new to faith and training and mentioned he was impressed by the film “Going through the Giants” — a couple of Christian highschool soccer coach — to present due to God “on the battlefield” after every recreation.

What started as a solitary follow quickly attracted college students. He agreed, citing the district’s coverage of neither encouraging nor discouraging pupil prayer. Through the years he started main locker room prayers earlier than video games, in addition to group prayers and non secular motivational talks at midfield after them.

The varsity district mentioned it didn’t study Kennedy was main gamers in prayer till it heard it from one other group’s coach in September 2015. Directors informed him he was to not take part in non secular actions with college students, and any of his personal non secular remark have to be both non-demonstrative or ought to happen with out college students.

For a month, Kennedy complied, the district notes in arguments to the courtroom: He prayed on his personal, similar to whereas college students had been singing the battle tune, and the district let him be.

However Kennedy’s legal professionals then insisted he be allowed to renew his prior follow, describing it as a “private” prayer protected by the Structure whether or not or not college students joined him. Kennedy introduced he would resume praying at midfield after video games, and when he did so on the Oct. 16, 2015, homecoming recreation, as Bremerton’s gamers had been in any other case occupied, spectators rushed to the sphere to affix him — as did members of the opposing group.

The district nonetheless didn’t fireplace Kennedy however wrote to warning him. Given his prior statements and actions, his praying at midfield — on authorities property he may entry solely by advantage of his job — could possibly be perceived as college endorsement of faith, exposing the district to potential legal responsibility, Superintendent Aaron Leavell wrote.

“I want to once more emphasize that the district doesn’t prohibit prayer or different non secular train by its staff,” Leavell wrote. “Nonetheless, it should prohibit any conduct by its staff that will function District endorsement of faith.”

Kennedy prayed once more on the sphere after the following two video games: first at a varsity recreation the place nobody joined him, after which at a junior varsity recreation the place he was joined by a state lawmaker. The district then positioned him on go away, and his contract was not renewed.

Kennedy’s legal professionals level out that he stopped participating in non secular exercise with Bremerton college students when requested. What he was truly suspended for was not delivering prayers to college students, however kneeling and praying shortly by himself, they argue.

The federal decide who dominated in opposition to Kennedy, District Decide Ronald Leighton, in contrast his postgame conduct to a director who involves middle stage and prays on the finish of a faculty play: “An inexpensive onlooker would interpret their speech from that location as an extension of the school-sanctioned speech simply earlier than it.”

Because the case made its means by means of the courts, Kennedy misplaced at each flip. However when the Supreme Court docket declined to take the case at an earlier stage, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh referred to as the ninth Circuit’s reasoning “troubling” and mentioned beneath it, “public college academics and coaches could also be fired in the event that they have interaction in any expression that the college doesn’t like whereas they’re on obligation.”

Ninth Circuit Decide Milan Smith steered a trainer who prays over lunch in a cafeteria would not ship a public message the best way Kennedy did. Smith referred to as the narrative posed by Kennedy’s legal professionals — that this was a couple of public worker’s non-public prayer — “deceitful.”

Kennedy mentioned he simply needs to get again to teaching.

“This factor has simply been so blown out of proportion,” he mentioned. “Think about a man going on the market and tying his shoe — you’d by no means know the distinction.”