Court opinion · 2022

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

In a 6–3 decision, the Court held that the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses protected Joseph Kennedy, a public high school football coach who lost his job after kneeling at midfield after games to offer a quiet personal prayer. The Court also held that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by reference to historical practices and understandings, stating that it had long ago abandoned the Lemon test and its endorsement-test offshoot.

“Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic — whether those expressions take place in a sanctuary or on a field, and whether they manifest through the spoken word or a bowed head.”

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch (majority opinion), June 27, 2022

Why it matters

The ruling reoriented Establishment Clause doctrine around history and tradition; Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent argued that the majority misread a record showing public prayers involving students and that the decision would erode the separation of church and state.

Read the full text at supremecourt.gov

Primary Source

The original record, reproduced or linked from the institution that holds it. Primary sources show what people said and did in their own words.

Subjects

religious liberty first amendment supreme court education

From the library

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