Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

Joseph Kennedy is a practicing Christian and was an assistant football coach of Bremerton High School, a public school in the Seattle area, starting in 2008. Inspired by the film Facing the Giants, Kennedy began praying after each football game, in the center of the field, at the 50-yard line.[1] Over time, he was joined by his players, and then by players and coaches from the opposing team. Kennedy continued the practice for seven years, but the school board only learned of the practice after an opposing team commented positively that the district would allow for the practice.[2] The board became concerned that they would be seen as complicit in violating the separation of church and state by allowing for Kennedy's prayers to continue, as well as the implicit coercion that players may feel to join in on the prayer.[2] The board negotiated with Kennedy to reduce the public display of the prayer, offering to provide Kennedy with a private location for his prayer or suggesting that he held his prayer after the spectators had left, among other accommodations. Through the athletic director, Kennedy was warned that any such display should be clearly student-led. Kennedy wrote to his Facebook page that he felt he was likely being fired, and a few games later, he continued to pray after the game with additional coverage by the press and local politicians. The attention created additional safety hazards with other groups such as the marching band as spectators raced to join the prayer.[1] After continuing this prayer for two more games following this one, the board put him on paid leave for violating the school's policies and endangering students from that event. The board suggested to not renew Kennedy's annual contract, and Kennedy did not re-apply.[3][4]

After further disagreements with the school district, Kennedy filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington to regain his lost job, claiming the school's policy violated his Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The board stated that they were trying to avoid any conflicts with the Establishment Clause by preventing public displays of faith at a public school. The district court ruled for the school board, and its decision was upheld at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Milan Smith.[5][6] In 2019, the Supreme Court denied his first petition for a writ of certiorari, but Justice Alito, joined by Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, wrote, respecting the denial, but calling the case "troubling and may justify review in the future".[3]

In March 2021, the Ninth Circuit again ruled for the school district, after the district court had conducted further fact-finding. In July 2021, the full Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc. The Ninth Circuit was split in this denial; while Judge Milan Smith, writing for the majority in denying en banc, said that "Kennedy made it his mission to intertwine religion with football", Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain in the dissenting opinion wrote that the majority went against Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District in that "It is axiomatic that teachers do not 'shed' their First Amendment protections ‘at the schoolhouse gate'."[7]

Kennedy filed a petition for a writ of certiorari.[6]

Certiorari was granted in the case on January 14, 2022. Oral arguments were held on April 25, 2022. According to Adam Liptak of The New York Times, the conservative majority of the Court appeared to favor Kennedy's arguments in the case though their questioning likely looked towards a narrow ruling that would not fully disrupt past case law on religion in public schools.[7]