Washington — Monday's Supreme Court upheld a Washington football coach who knelt down after the match and tried to pray on the field.
The courtruled coach 6-3, with a majority of the court's conservative judges, who opposed the liberals. The judge said the coach's prayers were protected by the First Amendment.
"The Constitution and the best of our traditions advise mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and oppression, on religious and non-religious views."Neil Gorsuch Judgewrote in the majority.
In this case, the judge works on how to balance the right of teachers and free speech with the right of students to avoid pressure to participate in religious practices. I was forced to. The result may enhance the acceptance of some religious practices in the environment of other public schools.
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This decision is the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions against religious plaintiffs. In another recent example, the court ruled that Religious Schools cannot be excluded from programs in which Maine provides tuition assistance for private education. This is a decision that may facilitate access to the money of religious taxpayers.
In an objection on Monday,Judge Sonia Sotomayorwrote that the coach's decision "goes further on the dangerous path of forcing the state to engage with religion." She was challenged by Judge Stephen Breyerand Judge Elena Kagan.
It's probably not surprising that the court ruled the coach. In 2019, the court refused to file an early proceeding, but four conservatives in the court said that the lower court's decision to support the school district was "understanding the right to free speech in public schools." I agreed that I had a problem. teacher.
Read more: This Supreme Court proceeding could bring a "wrecking ball" to the separation of church and state
The proceedings before the trial involved Joseph Kennedy, a Christian and former football coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Washington. Kennedy started coaching at school in 2008 and initially prayed alone at the 50-yard line at the end of the game. However, the students began to join him, and eventually he began to tell short, moving stories with religious references. Kennedy did it for years, leading students to changing room prayers. The school district knew what he was doing in 2015 and asked him to stop.
Kennedy stopped leading students to pray in the changing rooms and outdoors, but he wanted to continue praying himself outdoors so that students could freely participate if they wished. He thought. Concerned that he would be accused of violating the student's right to religious freedom, the school asked him to stop kneeling and praying while he was "on duty" as a coach after the match. The school sought to come up with a solution so that Kennedy could pray personally before and after the match. The school took him on paid leave as he knelt down and continued to pray in the fields.
Three judges in court attended public high school and the rest attended Catholic school.
The case is Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, 21-418.
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