He Was Fired For Praying At School – Supreme Court Takes On Key Religious Freedom Case
(TruthandLiberty.com) – The US Supreme Court heard a case on Monday, April 26, about a Bremerton, Washington, high school football coach praying with players on his team and the opposition after the game. The school district warned high school football coach Joseph Kennedy he couldn’t pray on the field. The coach’s attorney said the case hinges on one question: Can school employees express their faith on school grounds?
The coach believes the school district violated his free speech and free exercise of religious rights as guaranteed in the US Constitution. The school says it didn’t persecute the coach for his faith. Instead, officials believed he was promoting religion on school property, endorsing religion as a government employee.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of a high school football coach who was fired for praying after games https://t.co/q7MjRT1Xcy
— Insider (@thisisinsider) April 23, 2022
The Supreme Court must resolve the conflict at the root of this case. Do government workers enjoy free speech and religious rights in the performance of their jobs, or does the Constitutional principle prohibiting government endorsement of religion take priority over individual rights? The six conservative majority members of the court appeared to side with Kennedy. Thomas and Alito specifically expressed skepticism that the coach’s religious expression rose to the level of government speech.
While court watchers and pundits may believe the court will rule in favor of Kennedy, Justices rarely base their rulings solely on answers to their questions during oral arguments, often choosing to incorporate legal precedents.
Stay tuned. The court will decide one way or another in late June or early July.
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