High school football players are seen in this illustration photo. (CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters) The Supreme Court announced Jan. 14 that it would hear an appeal from a former high school football coach in Washington state who says his rights to freedom of speech and religion were violated when he was fired in 2015 for praying on the football field after team games. Joseph Kennedy, former assistant coach at Bremerton High School, outside of Seattle, is asking the court to reverse a lower court decision in 2017 that sided with the school district. The decision said Kennedy had acted as a public official by praying with athletes who wished to join him in prayer in view of other students and parents. Kennedy first appealed his case to the Supreme Court in 2019. The justices chose not to consider it but didn’t rule it out completely. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, wrote in a separate concurrence that the time wasn’t right to review the case because it had "unresolved factual questions." First Liberty, a law firm specializing in religious freedom cases, is representing Kennedy, described on its website as "Coach Joe." It […]
