- Oct 17, 2011
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The Supreme Court said Friday it will take up the case of a high school football coach who lost his job after a contentious battle with the school district over his postgame midfield prayers.
The court’s new conservative majority has been protective of individual religious rights, and it was not a surprise it took the case of Joseph Kennedy’s legal fight with the Bremerton, Wash., school district, which began in 2015.
He has lost twice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, although the case split the judges.
“No teacher or coach should lose their job for simply expressing their faith while in public,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and chief executive of First Liberty.
“This case is not about a school employee praying silently during a private religious devotion,” [Americans United] said in a statement. “Rather, this case is about protecting impressionable students who felt pressured by their coach to participate repeatedly in public prayer, and a public school district that did right by its students and families.”
The court’s new conservative majority has been protective of individual religious rights, and it was not a surprise it took the case of Joseph Kennedy’s legal fight with the Bremerton, Wash., school district, which began in 2015.
He has lost twice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, although the case split the judges.
“No teacher or coach should lose their job for simply expressing their faith while in public,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and chief executive of First Liberty.
“This case is not about a school employee praying silently during a private religious devotion,” [Americans United] said in a statement. “Rather, this case is about protecting impressionable students who felt pressured by their coach to participate repeatedly in public prayer, and a public school district that did right by its students and families.”