“Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment,” the court’s opinion by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch reads. “And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech.”
“The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination,” it continues.
Justices John G. Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Gorsuch in the opinion. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh also joined, except for one part (Part III–B). Thomas and Alito filed concurring, or agreeing, opinions.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a dissenting opinion. She was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan. They argued that the other justices placed the religious freedom of the coach above that of his student players.
“Today’s decision is particularly misguided because it elevates the religious rights of a school official, who voluntarily accepted public employment and the limits that public employment entails, over those of his students, who are required to attend school and who this Court has long recognized are particularly vulnerable and deserving of protection,” the dissenting opinion reads.
Kennedy’s case dates back to 2015 when Bremerton High School placed him on administrative leave. The school did not renew his contract for the following season. Kennedy filed suit to vindicate his right “to act in accordance with his sincerely held religious beliefs by offering a brief, private prayer of thanksgiving at the conclusion of BHS football games,” according to his brief.
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