Amy Howe 1/14/2022
In a term in which the justices are already slated to weigh in on disputes over public funding for private schools that teach religion, the role of spiritual advisers in the execution chamber, and the flying of a religious flag on a city flag pole, the Supreme Court on Friday added another religion case to its docket. The justices agreed to hear the case of a high school football coach who wanted to pray at mid-field after games. The justices granted review in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, along with four other cases, in an order list issued after their private conference on Friday.
The justices did not act on several of the other high-profile petitions for review that they considered on Friday, involving (among other issues) whether affirmative action in higher education violates federal law, whether a website designer can opt out of a non-discrimination law and refuse to create custom sites for same-sex weddings, and whether the court should overrule its 2020 decision holding that a large portion of eastern Oklahoma remains a reservation for purposes of federal criminal law. The justices could still take up those cases later, but their failure to do so on Friday means that even if they do, they are unlikely to hear oral arguments until the 2022-23 term.
The justices, however, likely will schedule arguments this term in the five new cases that they granted. The case of the football coach involves Joseph Kennedy, a practicing Christian whose religious beliefs require him to “give thanks through prayer, at the end of each game.” When he began his job as an assistant coach at Bremerton High School, a public school in Washington state, he initially prayed alone after games, but over time some of his players – and eventually a majority of the team – joined him. One parent complained that his son, a player on the team, felt like he had to join in the prayer, even though he was an atheist, or face a loss of playing time.
The justices agreed on Friday to take up four other cases:
• George v. McDonough, in which the court will consider whether a denial of a veteran’s claim for benefits that relies on an agency interpretation that is later deemed invalid is the kind of “clear and unmistakable error” that allows the veteran to challenge an otherwise-final decision.
• Vega v. Tekoh, involving whether a plaintiff can bring a federal civil rights claim against a police officer based on the officer’s failure to provide a Miranda
• Nance v. Ward, involving the procedures by which an inmate must raise his challenge to the method by which the state intends to execute him.
• Shoop v. Twyford, involving (among other things) whether a court must determine whether evidence would help an inmate seeking a writ of habeas corpus and whether the court can consider that evidence before the court grants an order allowing the inmate to develop new evidence.
More:
https://amylhowe.com/2022/01/14/court-will-take-up-five-new-cases-including-lawsuit-from-football-coach-who-wanted-to-pray-on-the-field/
