The United States Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear the case of former Bremerton High School Coach Joseph Kennedy against the school district for terminating him because he prayed in the field after games.
The Christian Headlines said First Liberty refiled the case, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, last September in the Supreme Court after the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to rehear arguments last July.
The Ninth Circuit reasoned that Kennedy "spoke as a public employee," which prohibits him from engaging in "religiously affiliated actions" beyond specified occasions and locations designated by Bremerton. Accordingly, Kennedy was allowed to pray in the field only when he is alone.
The Supreme Court's four justices accepted to rehear the case in September after finding the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejection to hear it and 2019 decision as "troubling and may justify review in the future."
First Liberty raised that the Ninth Circuit's decision is a threat to religious freedom that they hope the Supreme Court would be able to correct.
"No American should be forced to choose between their faith and the job they love. The Ninth Circuit's opinion threatens the rights of millions of Americans who simply want to be able to freely exercise their faith without fear of losing their job. We hope the Supreme Court will right this wrong and restore Coach Kennedy to the football field where he belongs," First Liberty said in a statement.
Last October former Vice President Mike Pence was among those who urged the Supreme Court to protect Kennedy's right to pray. Pence filed an amicus brief together with legendary football coach Bobby Bowden, National Football League Hall of Famer Steve Largent, and triple Super Bowl winner Chad Hennings.
The brief requests the Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the lower court that allowed the district to terminate Kennedy from his role as the school's coach. Almost 100 amicus briefs were filed in support of Kennedy.
Pence argued in his brief that prayer is a "fundamental" right of every American and denying its practice is nothing but unconstitutional.
"No right is more fundamental to our Constitution than the ability of every citizen to give personal thanks to God for the blessings of His provision. Yet the Ninth Circuit's decision upholding the suspension of high school football coach Joseph Kennedy for engaging in 30 seconds of personal prayer at the conclusion of a football game would unconstitutionally require the many public officials who enter public service as an answer to the call of faith to deny the faithful practice of humble devotion to their Creator," Pence said.
While Bowden's amicus brief raised how the Ninth Circuit Court's decision eliminated Kennedy's First Amendment rights and creates the impression that coaches would have to choose between their faith or their employment.
"In the Bowdens' view, the Circuit Court's opinion jeopardizes an observant coach's ability to impart these life lessons. It also effectively strips a coach of his or her spiritual identity while in the presence of his or her student-athletes by categorically eliminating at the public schoolhouse gate the coach's First Amendment rights to engage in any form of religious expression. Simply put, the Bowdens believe that no coach should have to set down their faith when they pick up a whistle,"the Bowden amicus brief said.
First Liberty announced on Sunday that they launched an online petition asking support for #TeamKennedy and invited the public to sign it. The petition advocates belief in the First Amendment that protects a person's "right to kneel for private prayer" and gathers consensus that people are "shocked" with the Bremerton High School for denying Kennedy his right to practice praying out of gratitude after winning football games.
