Federal judge rules that coach not allowed to pray on field
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A federal judge upheld the right of a Washington state school district to fire a football coach for his practice of praying at the 50-yard line after games following four years of legal battles.
Judge Ronald Leighton said that the Bremerton School District was justified in suspending Coach Joe Kennedy in 2015, reasoning that, if the school allowed him to pray, it could give the misimpression that the government was respecting an establishment of religion.
“For almost five long years Joe has had to miss coaching the game he loves,” said Mike Berry of the First Liberty Institute that represented Kennedy. “Joe has fought — first as a U.S. Marine, then as a coach — to prove that every American has the right to engage in individual religious expression, including praying in public, without fear of getting fired. He knows this fight isn’t over.”
The atheistic Freedom from Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have put pressure in recent years on schools to forbid public expressions of faith.