SCOTUS Hears Case of High School Football Coach Banned From Praying on Field
Matthew Vadum | April 25, 2022The Supreme Court seemed to be generally sympathetic toward a high school football coach who claims he was fired for kneeling to pray at the 50-yard line after football games.
Coach Joseph A. “Joe” Kennedy, who no longer works for the taxpayer-funded Bremerton School District in Washington state, says his rights were violated when the school district forbade him from praying in view of the public after games. Some of the facts, such as whether his prayers were silent and how he came to not be employed by the district, are in dispute.
The case is Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, court file 21-418, an appeal from the frequently overturned U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. One hour was scheduled for the April 25 hearing, but it ran over by 48 minutes. . .
https://www.theepochtimes.com/scotus-hears-case-of-high-school-football-coach-banned-from-praying-on-field_4424434.html
Bremerton School District is arguing that as a school employee, he was serving in his school capacity, and thus does not enjoy free speech rights. But my take is that this isn't a free speech issue at all, but a free exercise issue.