Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 25, 2022
Full case name	Joseph A. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
Docket no.	21-418
Questions presented
(1) Whether a public-school employee who says a brief, quiet prayer by himself while at school and visible to students is engaged in government speech that lacks any First Amendment protection; and (2) Whether, assuming that such religious expression is private and protected by the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses, the Establishment Clause nevertheless compels public schools to prohibit it.
Court membership
Chief Justice That date is in the future. Check DecideDate/Year then ArgueDate/Year! Associate Justices
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (Docket 21–418) is a pending United States Supreme Court case related to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Background[]

Joseph Kennedy is a practicing Christian and was an assistant football coach of Bremerton High School, a public school in the Seattle area starting in 2008. Kennedy began praying after each football game at the field's 50-yard line, and often was joined by players and coaches from both teams. In 2015, an opposing coach criticized the practice. The school board offered to provide Kennedy with a private location for his prayer or after the spectators had left, among other accommodations, but after Kennedy continued to pray after the game two games later, the board put him on leave for violating the school's policies, and did not renew his annual contract the next year.^[1]

After further disagreements with the school district, Kennedy filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington to regain his lost job, claiming the school's policy violated his Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The board stated that they were trying to avoid any conflicts with the Establishment Clause by preventing public displays of faith at a public school. The district court ruled for the school board, and its decision was upheld at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Milan Smith.^[2][3] In 2019, the Supreme Court denied his first petition for a writ of certiorari, but Justice Alito, joined by Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, wrote respecting the denial but called the case "troubling and may justify review in the future".^[1]

In March 2021, the Ninth Circuit again ruled for the school district, after the district court had conducted further fact-finding. In July 2021, the court denied rehearing en banc. Kennedy filed a petition for a writ of certiorari.^[3]

Supreme Court[]

Certiorari was granted in the case on January 14, 2022.

References[]

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