High-School Football Coach Fired for Praying after Games to Be Reinstated
The Washington State high-school football coach who was fired by his district for praying on the field after games will be reinstated after the Supreme Court ruled that his private religious practice is protected by the Constitution.
Joseph Kennedy “is to be reinstated to his previous position as assistant coach of the Bremerton High School football team on or before March 15, 2023,” read a joint stipulation issued by Kennedy’s lawyers and lawyers for Bremerton School District.
Kennedy’s attorney, Jeremy Dys, confirmed to ABC News that he will return to Washington later this year to resume his assistant coaching role with the team. However, a spokesperson for the district told the outlet that “there are still questions” about how the Court’s decision will be implemented regarding Kennedy’s post-game prayers.
The coach sued after he claimed he was unjustly fired in 2015 for praying on the field after football games, an activity which he did for seven years without the district raising an issue. In 2015, Kennedy was notified that the district was concerned about his praying, which it claimed students likely felt pressured to participate in since it was a regular ritual. Kennedy did not require his players to participate in prayer alongside him although he gave the opportunity to do so if they chose.
Bremerton argued that the praying infringed on “constitutionally-required directives that he refrain from engaging in overt, public religious displays on the football field while on duty.” The case made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled 6-3 in favor of Kennedy.
In his majority opinion from June, Justice Neil Gorsuch argued that “Kennedy’s private religious exercise did not come close to crossing any line one might imagine separating protected private expression from impermissible government coercion.”
After the years-long legal battle, Kennedy told National Review in June that he was eager to get back to coaching the sport he loves. His opponents, including the district and progressive activists, cast his legal challenge as a threat to the separation of church and state. His supporters pointed out that his religious activities do not violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.
“You’re going to have that small percentage that want to yell and scream… and most of those people just didn’t understand what the facts of the case were,” Kennedy said. He said he has “grace” for those who were “ignorant” about the case.
