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Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

Professor Hill
Course

American Government (POL 110)

3 Documents
Students shared 3 documents in this course
Academic year: 2022/2023
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Northern Kentucky University

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Kennedy v. Bremerton School District Serenity C. Ford Campbellsville University

Introduction The case in question is Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which came to the Supreme Court in October term of 2022. In the case, Mr. Joseph Kennedy is suing the Bremerton School District because he believes they have infringed upon the First Amendment’s Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech”(U. Const. amend. I). Mr. Kennedy lost his job due to him praying on the field after the football games that he coached. The school system believed that he was forcing students to join him in his prayers after the games. They felt he was wrongly including the students and players in his prayers and asked him to discontinue his prayers at centerfield. Mr. Kennedy claimed he was not forcing students to pray, he also said he was not trying to violate any of the district's rules. The prayers that got him fired were the ones he did by himself on October 23 and October 26th. In these occasions, he simply knelt alone in the middle of the football field for roughly fifteen seconds to pray. The school district claims that he attempted to publicly proclaim his beliefs by silently

praying on the field after football games. The case appeared before the District Court before it went to the Supreme Court, and it ruled in favor of the Bremerton School District. The Supreme Court felt that the case was not properly ruled upon, so they took it upon themselves to give a Constitutional ruling.

Stance on Case I stand on the side of prosecution, Mr. Kennedy should be able to keep his rights of freedom of speech and religious expression. He was not trying to force his players to join him on the field for a prayer after the games. This is no different than a coach being on his phone or going to talk to friends after the game, these are all matters of free speech, just because it is an religous act does not mean he should have been fired for doing such things. Mr. Kennedy tried to adher to the school districts rules regarding his prayers, and did it quietly and personally in the center of the field. He also clearly stated that he never once forced or coerced a student or athlete to pray with him. Whenever large groups, comprised of both his team and members from the opposing team, surrounded him while he prayed, it was not because he forced them to, but because they wanted to join him in his time of prayer. Religious freedom is one of the hallmarks for this country, and is one of the reasons why many colonists came to this country and why many immigrants choose to come to america today. This pillar of the American philosophy, should not, can not, be mitigated on the basis of personal opinions and bias placed on the religious practicer.

duties as a teacher?" Lawyer Clements answered her by saying, "I would think so" He justifies this by saying that it is within the time she has teaching duties and responsibilities. A frequent topic of discussion was "Pickering," which is short for "The Pickering Connick Test." This is a test regarding First Amendment law used by courts to determine whether a public employer violated an employee's free-expression rights. While they were discussing this, they stated that this issue posed a coercion problem. Mr. Kennedy could have been indirectly forcing them to join him in his prayers. Clemants says, "Personal religious observance is protected by both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses." so if students wanted to join him in Mr. Kennedy's prayers, they should not get in trouble for that because that is their right as both a citizen and student.

Conclusion This case overruled a previous Supreme Court Case, Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971). It established a tripartite test to determine violations of the First Amendment establishment clause. This test was used to assess the violation of Kennedy’s rights. In the end, this test failed to represent the situation as a whole and, thus, was overruled in this case. The Bremerton school district is required to reinstate Kennedy by March 15th of next year. In addition, the school district is financially responsible for the entirety of Mr. Kennedy’s legal payments. There are significant legal and social ramifications resulting from Mr. Kennedy’s victory. It allows teachers and coaches across the country to pray and practice their religion while on duty within the school district. This further pushes the United States to more accurately represent the ideal it is based on, a land where people can be free to follow their beliefs peacefully and privately.

References Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty (n.).

Finkelman, Paul. “1st Amendment.” The Constitution, National Geographic Society, Washington, D., 2006.

“Kennedy v. Bremerton .” {{Meta}}, oyez/cases/2021/21-418.

“Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U. ___ (2022).” Justia Law, supreme.justia/cases/federal/us/597/21-418/#tab-opinion-4601252.

Staff, Author: KING 5. “After Supreme Court Ruling, Former Bremerton Football Coach Must Be Reinstated.” king5, 26 Oct. 2022, king5/article/news/local/bremerton/former-bremerton-coach-reinstated-su preme-court-ruling/281-bcc308b2-14f5-4afa-834c-cc939351c3e3.

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Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

Course: American Government (POL 110)

3 Documents
Students shared 3 documents in this course

University: Campbellsville University

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Kennedy v. Bremerton School District 1
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
Serenity C. Ford Campbellsville
University
Introduction
The case in question is Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which came to the
Supreme Court in October term of 2022. In the case, Mr. Joseph Kennedy is suing the Bremerton
School District because he believes they have infringed upon the First Amendment’s Free
Speech and Free Exercise Clauses. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech”(U.S. Const.
amend. I). Mr. Kennedy lost his job due to him praying on the field after the football games that
he coached. The school system believed that he was forcing students to join him in his prayers
after the games. They felt he was wrongly including the students and players in his prayers and
asked him to discontinue his prayers at centerfield. Mr. Kennedy claimed he was not forcing
students to pray, he also said he was not trying to violate any of the district's rules. The prayers
that got him fired were the ones he did by himself on October 23 and October 26th. In these
occasions, he simply knelt alone in the middle of the football field for roughly fifteen seconds to
pray. The school district claims that he attempted to publicly proclaim his beliefs by silently

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