Ep. 75 - Coach Joe Kennedy

Coach Joe Kennedy, an eighteen-year Marine veteran, was an assistant coach for the Bremerton High School (BHS) varsity football team. School officials at BHS suspended—and later fired—football coach Joe Kennedy because he prayed a brief, quiet prayer after football games. A lawsuit was filed against the school district, arguing that banning coaches from quietly praying, just because they can be seen by the public, is wrong and violates the Constitution. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, and then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sided with the school district. The case eventually landed in the U.S. Supreme Court. In January 2022, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Coach Joe.