A high school football coach in Washington state is being represented by a legal group to be allowed to pray after football games, even as the school authorities banned him from doing so, arguing that the ban is a violation of First Amendment.
Joseph Kennedy, head coach at Bremerton High School, held personal prayers in the football field after the games, but has now been instructed by administrators to bring an end to his practice of faith.
A former marine, Kennedy says he has an "agreement with God" and would like to keep his word to God.
"I kind of made an agreement with my personal faith and with God that this was something that I was going to do, and I was going to give Him the glory after every single game, and do it on the 50," Kennedy said on "Fox & Friends". "I'm kind of a guy of my word, and I'm just going to go through with what I've always done."
He is now being represented by Liberty Institute, who has sent a letter to district authorities urging them to withdraw the ban on prayer.
"There is no lawful prohibition against Coach Kennedy's practice of saying a private, post-game prayer. The prayers are Coach Kennedy's private religious speech, and no reasonable observer could conclude that BHS sponsors, endorses, or encourages student participation," his attorney Hiram Sasser wrote in the letter, also published on the Liberty Institute website.
"To the extent that students voluntarily choose to join Coach Kennedy, the District must not discriminate against, prohibit or interfere with student-initiated religious activities," he added.
Kennedy was hired by the school in 2008, and had been offering post-game prayers since then.
According to his case brief on Liberty Institute, a few students joined him voluntarily in his prayers nine years ago. They asked him what Kennedy was doing, and he remembers replying to them, "I was thanking God for you guys.'"
"'Then a couple said they were Christians and asked if they could join. I responded, 'It's a free country, you can do whatever you want to do,'" Kennedy was quoted as saying by the legal group.
His attorney told the Seattle Times, "The coach has a right as a citizen to be able to go out there and personally pray, and he doesn't have a duty to flee the scene if other kids happen to come along."
In September, the school district had sent a letter to the coach informing him that he has been prohibited from praying before or after the football games.
"We learned that you have a practice, at most games, of providing an inspirational talk at midfield following the completion of the game," Aaron Leavell, Superintendent at Bremerton School District wrote in the letter back in September. . "Students from both Bremerton High School and the opposing team (along with coaches from the opposing team and sometimes other attendees of the game) are invited to participate in this activity. During the activity, you hold up a helmet from each team and speak while the students and other participants kneel. Your talks have included overtly religious references, and you acknowledged that they likely constitute prayer. You explained that you began kneeling at midfield following games when you first started coaching at BHS, and that over time students asked to join, with the activity evolving organically."
The letter though notes that, "Each activity has been voluntary. While students and others have either been invited or allowed to join in, you have not actively encouraged, or required, participation. Nevertheless.. activities would very likely be found to violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, exposing the District to significant risk of liability."
Leavell then instructed him to not use religious words in his motivational talks.
"Your talks with students may not include religious express, including prayer. They must remain entirely secular in nature, so as to avoid alienation of any team member," the superintendent wrote.
However, Sasser argued in his letter, "No reasonable observer could conclude that a football coach who waits until the game is over and the players have left the field and then walks to mid-field to say a short, private, personal prayer is speaking on behalf of the state. Quite the opposite, Coach Kennedy is engaged in private religious expression upon which the state may not infringe. In fact, any attempt by Bremerton School District to ban or prohibit Coach Kennedy--or any private citizen--from praying violates the First Amendment."
Speaking to Todd Starnes of Fox News, Kennedy said that he is very open about his faith.
"I'm not a guy who hides in a corner and does a secret prayer to God. I'm very open about my faith everywhere I go," the coach said.
"I'm being investigated for thanking God for the opportunities that have been given me," he added. "It's absolutely ridiculous."
"I spent 20 years in the military defending the Constitution and the freedoms that everybody has. All of a sudden, I realized that people who work for the public schools don't have the same constitutional rights that everyone else has."
