Texas Values and Family Policy Alliance File Legal Brief in Support of Football Coach Fired for Praying
Texas Values, along with Family Policy Alliance and other state family policy councils recently filed a legal amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Coach Joseph Kennedy, ahead of the April 25 Supreme Court oral argument in his case. Coach Kennedy was fired from a public school in Washington State after he exercised his religious freedom by praying briefly at the 50-yard line.
Kennedy began saying a brief prayer following games years ago. Initially, he did so alone, but some students asked him what he was doing. When they asked if they could join, he responded, “This is a free country,” and “You can do what you want.” The school demanded he stop, but he refused. As a result, he lost his job. An issue before the Supreme Court is whether the First Amendment speech and religious rights protect Kennedy’s brief prayer following games and whether the Establishment Clause justifies his dismissal.
The clear message sent by the school district is that of hostility toward religion. The Establishment Clause and First Amendment rights have always protected against this type of hostility by governmental entities against religious activity.