The Washington high school football coach at the center of a First Amendment case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court last year will return to the sidelines for the upcoming football season.
The Bremerton School District announced that Joe Kennedy, a former assistant football coach who prayed with his players and other students on the field, will be back in his old coaching role this year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that Kennedy's prayer fell under his First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, weighing in on the age-old argument over prayer in public schools.
After the decision, Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction said the ruling affirms that school employees can engage in individual prayer as long as there's no expectation that others join and the prayer is not part of their official duties.
