{"id":2024046,"date":"2023-09-06T21:24:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T01:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/football-coach-quits-job-he-won-back-in-supreme-court-battle-over-midfield-prayers\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T21:26:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T01:26:03","slug":"football-coach-quits-job-he-won-back-in-supreme-court-battle-over-midfield-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/football-coach-quits-job-he-won-back-in-supreme-court-battle-over-midfield-prayers\/","title":{"rendered":"Football coach quits job after winning Supreme Court battle over midfield prayers."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffootball-coach-quits-job-he-won-back-in-supreme-court-battle-over-midfield-prayers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2024046&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A Marine Veteran Turned High School Football Coach Resigns After Legal\u2064 Battle Over First Amendment Rights<\/h2>\n<p>A Marine veteran turned high school football coach who fought and won a legal challenge over his First Amendment right to pray on the \u2064field that went to the Supreme Court has resigned\u2064 after briefly returning to the game.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Kennedy, who had been serving as an assistant coach \u2062for the Bremerton High School in Washington since 2008, announced on \u2062his personal website Wednesday that he would no longer\u200d be with the team. He \u200dcited several reasons for his resignation, including \u2064having to care for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breitbart-news-daily-podcast-ep-96-alex-is-back-lia-thomas-hoax-grows-supreme-court-confirmation-preview-dr-doom-returns-guest-laptop-from-hell-reporter-emma-jo-morris\/\" title=\"Breitbart News Daily Podcast Ep. 96: Alex Is Back! Lia Thomas Hoax Grows, Supreme Court Confirmation Preview, Dr. Doom Returns, Guest: \u2018Laptop from Hell\u2019 Reporter Emma-Jo Morris\">ailing family member<\/a>\u2063 out of state.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by \u2062working from outside the\u2064 school system, so\u2062 that is what I will do,&#8221; the former\u200d coach wrote. &#8220;I will continue to work to help people understand and embrace the historic ruling at the heart of our case.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/sports\/after-years-of-fighting-a-praying-football-coach-got-his-job-back-now-hes-unsure-he-wants-it-5485296\">After Years of \u200dFighting, \u2064a Praying \u2064Football Coach\u2063 Got His Job Back. Now He&#8217;s Unsure He Wants It<\/a><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-comp-caption\">9\/1\/2023<\/span>\n    <\/li>\n<li>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/in-depth-i-fought-the-good-fight-high-school-football-coach-returns-to-the-field-after-supreme-court-ruling-5485203\">IN-DEPTH: &#8216;I Fought the Good Fight&#8217;; \u200bHigh School Football Coach Returns to\u2064 the \u200cField After Supreme Court Ruling<\/a><br \/>\n      <br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-comp-caption\">9\/1\/2023<\/span>\n    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I encourage all Americans \u2063to make their own stand for \u2063freedom and our right to express our \u200dfaith as we see fit. I appreciate the\u2063 people of Bremerton, \u200bthe coaches, staff, and especially the students, and wish \u2062them all well. Bremerton will always be home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Bremerton School District\u2064 confirmed that they have received Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s resignation, which is pending board \u200dapproval at \u2064a regular meeting scheduled \u200dfor Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The district, which kicked off a nearly eight-year legal battle that was fought all the way to the nation&#8217;s highest court, added\u2063 it won&#8217;t be making any more statements about the case or commenting on Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s departure, as it&#8217;s\u200c his personal matter.<\/p>\n<p>In\u200d 2015, \u2064Mr. Kennedy was suspended for his custom of taking a \u200bknee and praying\u200b at the 50-yard line after games\u2014something \u200che had been doing since his first\u2063 game with the Bremerton Knights football\u200b team.<\/p>\n<p>According to First Liberty Institute (FLI), a conservative Christian legal group that\u2064 represented Mr. Kennedy, the\u2064 school placed increasingly strict rules on his prayers before eventually placing him on \u2064paid leave and\u2064 barring him from the games, despite \u2063his compliance with their demands.<\/p>\n<p>At \u200cfirst, Bremerton asked\u200d Mr. Kennedy to keep his ceremony separate \u2063from student athletes, \u200dprompting the coach to wait until the players had left his vicinity to\u200b perform his brief, silent prayer. Weeks later, however, the district \u2064introduced a new policy, banning \u200call employee while on duty \u2064from engaging in \u2062&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-massive-implications-scotus-takes-up-case-involving-high-school-football-coach-fired-for-praying-on-the-field\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 'Massive Implications': SCOTUS Takes Up Case Involving High School Football Coach Fired for Praying on the Field\u00a0\">demonstrative religious activity<\/a>&#8221; within view of\u200b any student or the public,\u2064 either silently or audibly.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>  &#8220;The only accommodation the district offered to Coach \u2063Kennedy was to permit him to pray\u200b in secret in a private location within the school building, athletic facility, or press box,'&#8221;\u2064 FLI said.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p>  &#8220;Those directives\u2064 went against \u200cmy faith \u2063and my constitutional right as an American, and \u200bI wasn&#8217;t about to give that up,&#8221; Mr. \u200cKennedy told The Epoch \u200bTimes earlier this month.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;As a\u200c Marine \u2063veteran who fought in the first Gulf \u200dWar, it really rubbed\u200c me the wrong way because I served 20 years to support and defend the \u2063Constitution,&#8221; Mr. Kennedy said. &#8220;Now, I&#8217;m being told it doesn\u2019t apply to me. There&#8217;s something\u2064 fundamentally wrong with \u200bthat. If\u200d I \u2064can&#8217;t express my First Amendment rights as \u2062an American, imagine what they are doing to everybody \u200celse.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In\u2062 2016, Mr. Kennedy \u200bsued \u200bBremerton, alleging it had violated his\u2062 constitutional right to free speech and \u200dfree exercise of \u200dreligion.<\/p>\n<p>The school district, on the other hand, argued that Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s\u2063 behavior created a constitutional problem, as\u200b those prayers could be interpreted as a government endorsement of religion in \u2063violation of the establishment clause.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>  \u2064 In a 6-3 decision (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/21pdf\/21-418_i425.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>), the \u2064U.S.\u200d Supreme Court&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/football-coach-quits-job-he-won-back-in-supreme-court-battle-over-midfield-prayers\/\" title=\"Football coach quits job after winning Supreme Court battle over midfield prayers.\">conservative majority sided<\/a> with the\u2064 football coach, ruling that the school district violated the Constitution by restricting him \u200dfrom engaging in private, personal\u200c religious expression.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Those\u2064 prayers, the court said,\u200b were &#8220;private&#8221; and &#8220;personal&#8221; because they were\u200c conducted quietly \u200dand not in Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s capacity as a coach. The decision also highlighted the fact that no student was required \u200cto\u2062 participate, and\u2063 that Mr. Kennedy was willing\u2063 to pray alone, even though students were welcome to join him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Marine veteran turned high school football coach, Joe Kennedy, resigned after winning a legal battle over his right to pray on the field. He briefly returned to coaching at Bremerton High School in Washington before stepping down. Kennedy&#8217;s case reached the Supreme Court, highlighting his commitment to the First Amendment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":2024047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}