Denver, Colorado – March 2, 2022 — Coach Joseph Kennedy is a former U.S. Marine who coached football at Bremerton High School, in Bremerton, Washington, until 2015, when he was suspended from his job by the school district for defying an order to not engage in a visible post-game prayer. Now, after a series of court setbacks, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether Kennedy’s religious liberties were trampled when the district ordered him to pray in secret.
At issue in this case is whether public employees can be legally prohibited from private and personal displays of religious faith on “Establishment Clause” grounds. Mountain States Legal Foundation on Tuesday filed an amicus brief in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District arguing that an earlier court ruling by the Ninth Circuit was flawed and that the restrictions and punishment imposed by the district did, in fact, violate the coach’s religious liberties.
The Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of the First Amendment categorized Coach Kennedy’s prayer as “government speech” that can be restricted under the Establishment Clause purely because he is a high school football coach and wants to pray at the conclusion of the games he coaches. If not reversed, any public-school employee who engages in religious conduct visible to students (i.e., praying before a meal, wearing a yarmulke, saying “Under God” during the Pledge of Allegiance) could be fired for violating the Establishment Clause, argued MSLF.
Follow this link to read our case summary
Follow this link to read our brief.
“If the Supreme Court views the Establishment Clause through originalism principles, tolerance for public prayer will be recognized—the way the Framers intended,” said MSLF Attorney Kaitlyn Schiraldi.
“Our Founding Fathers never intended the Establishment Clause to prohibit all public expressions of religion,” added MSLF Attorney Erin Erhardt. “The Supreme Court should narrow its interpretation of the Establishment Clause, recognizing that letting an individual pray at a public school is not an establishment of religion and should be protected by the right to free speech.”