[co-author: Jenny Lee]* In 2019, we reported on the case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District involving a football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington state who was placed on administrative leave by his public school district for praying on the football field after games. At the time, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case when the former assistant coach, Joseph A. Kennedy, appealed to the Court. However, in a concurring opinion signed by three other conservative justices, Justice Samuel Alito criticized the lower courts’ opinions and suggested that the school district may have violated the coach’s First Amendment free speech rights. Though Alito concurred in denying review due to “unresolved factual questions,” Alito’s sharply worded rebukes highlighted his willingness to revisit the issue of public-school employees and their rights to free expression, including religious speech. As it turns out, the Supreme Court will have the chance to reconsider this issue in the Kennedy case. On January 14, the justices agreed to review Kennedy’s most recent appeal, which circled back through the 9th Circuit before ending up again before the Supreme Court, this time with an even larger conservative majority. This case may have far-reaching consequences involving […]
