Supreme Court Sides With Coach Over Prayers on 50-Yard Line [View all]
Source: New York Times
Supreme Court Sides With Coach Over Prayers on 50-Yard Line
Joseph Kennedy, a former high school football coach in Bremerton, Wash., had a constitutional right to pray on the field after his team’s games, the justices ruled.
By Adam Liptak
June 27, 2022, 10:04 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a high school football coach had a constitutional right to pray at the 50-yard line after his team’s games.
The vote was 6 to 3, with the court’s three liberal members in dissent.
The case pitted the rights of government workers to free speech and the free exercise of their faith against the Constitution’s prohibition of government endorsement of religion and the ability of public employers to regulate speech in the workplace. The decision was in tension with decades of Supreme Court precedents that forbade pressuring students to participate in religious activities.
The case concerned Joseph Kennedy, an assistant coach at a public high school in Bremerton, Wash., near Seattle. For eight years, Mr. Kennedy routinely offered prayers after games, with students often joining him. He also led and participated in prayers in the locker room, a practice he later abandoned and did not defend in the Supreme Court.
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-coach-prayers.html
I don't subscribe to the NYT, so I can't give you a link that allows you free access to the article.
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SCOTUSblog:
We have the first opinion, and it is Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
Sotomayor dissents, joined by Breyer and Kagan.
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Amy Howe
a few seconds ago
It is by Justice Gorsuch, and the vote is 6-3.
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Amy Howe
a few seconds ago
Here is the link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
The Court holds that both the free exercise and free speech clauses protect Kennedy's right to pray at midfield following high school football games.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/announcement-of-orders-and-opinions-for-monday-june-27/
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The Supreme Court's first decision of the day is Kennedy v. Bremerton. In a 6-3 opinion by Gorsuch, the court holds that public school officials have a constitutional right to pray publicly, and lead students in prayer, during school events. https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
The Supreme Court formally overrules the Lemon test and the endorsement test, substantially cutting back the Establishment Clause's separation of church and state. This is another maximalist decision. https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
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