<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joseph-kennedy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Kennedy</a>, the high school football coach in Washington state who won a landmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a> case after losing his job for praying on the field with students, announced on Wednesday that he was stepping away from football to advocate for religious liberty.
Kennedy was placed on administrative leave from Bremerton High School in 2015 after complaints about his on-field prayers, then eventually lost his job. He was later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coach-fired-for-praying-at-football-game-reinstated-to-old-role-gets-nearly-2-million-settlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reinstated</a> to his position after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-affirms-religious-liberty-rules-in-favor-of-public-high-school-football-coach-punished-for-praying-after-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled this summer</a> that his First Amendment rights had been violated. 
On Wednesday, Kennedy <a href="https://coachjoekennedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Kennedy-Resigns-from-Bremerton-High-School-RELEASE.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he was resigning from his position at Bremerton to care for a sick family member and be a religious liberty advocate. 
“I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system so that is what I will do,&#8221; Kennedy said in a statement. &#8220;I will continue to work to help people understand and embrace the historic ruling at the heart of our case. As a result of our case, we all have more freedom, not less. That should be celebrated and not disrespected.”  
“As I have demonstrated, we must make a stand for what we believe in,&#8221; he added. &#8220;In my case, I made a stand to take a knee. I encourage all Americans to make their own stand for freedom and our right to express our faith as we see fit. I appreciate the people of Bremerton, the coaches, staff and especially the students and wish them all well. Bremerton will always be home.” 
Kennedy only coached in one game back at Bremerton before announcing his resignation. Bremerton <a href="https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/following-years-of-legal-battles-praying-football-coach-joe-kennedy-resigns-after-1-game#:~:text=BREMERTON%2C%20Wash.&amp;text=Joe%20Kennedy%20strode%20alone%20to,School%2027%2D12%20Friday%20night." target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeated</a> Mount Douglas Secondary School 27-12, after which Kennedy prayed by himself in the middle of the field. According to the Seattle Times, he plans on moving to Florida, where he lived as his legal saga played out.
“The district has received Mr. Kennedy’s resignation and it is pending board approval at tomorrow’s regularly scheduled meeting,” Bremerton spokesperson Karen Bevers <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/praying-bremerton-football-coach-joe-kennedy-quits-after-one-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Times. 
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In June, the Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy had been discriminated against because of his faith. 
“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. 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,” Justice Neil Gorsuch <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/high-school-football-coach-scores-big-win-supreme-court-post-game-prayer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “Religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”
Kennedy, a former Marine, is working on a book and film project about his experience.

Christians Gather At Supreme Court To Pray As Bremerton Case Is Heard

Coach Who Won Landmark SCOTUS Prayer Ruling Steps Away From Football To Advocate For Religious Liberty

Football

Joseph Kennedy

Religion

Religious Liberty

SCOTUS

U.S.

Washington

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joseph-kennedy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joseph Kennedy</a>, a high school assistant football coach fired eight years ago for praying on the field with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/public-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">students</a>, returned to his old position and will receive a $1.78 million settlement.
Board members of the Bremerton School District in Washington voted last week to approve the settlement, which will cover attorney fees incurred by Kennedy in the landmark legal battle that reached the Supreme Court last year. Justices <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-affirms-religious-liberty-rules-in-favor-of-public-high-school-football-coach-punished-for-praying-after-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that the public high school violated the First Amendment by placing Kennedy on administrative leave in response to his prayer.
Kennedy, a veteran of the Marine Corps, started a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-to-hear-case-about-football-coach-fired-over-praying" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tradition</a> of kneeling and praying after football games after he was employed by the school district in 2008. Some students later volunteered to join their coach; a school administrator raised the issue with Kennedy in 2015 after an opposing team complained, leading to Kennedy’s placement on administrative leave.
“Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse republic,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion</a>. “Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a personal religious observance, based on a mistaken view that it has a duty to suppress religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”
Bremerton School District vowed to comply with the Supreme Court decision but said in a <a href="https://www.bremertonschools.org/Page/9026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> that officials “offered repeatedly” to accommodate Kennedy’s desire to pray “as long as he was not delivering prayers to students or coercing students to join him.” Board members added that they “look forward to moving past the distraction” of the legal battle.
Kennedy was reinstated to his position last week; court documents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fired-football-coach-to-be-reinstated-after-supreme-court-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Bremerton School District “shall not interfere with or prohibit Kennedy from offering a prayer” consistent with the decision from the Supreme Court and cannot “retaliate against or take any future adverse employment action against Kennedy” for conduct in alignment with the order.
The affirmation from the Supreme Court last summer was the latest of several favorable rulings for religious liberty in the United States in recent years. Justices issued another landmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-backs-religious-challenge-to-cuomos-covid-restrictions-barrett-delivers-decisive-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion</a> in the fall of 2020 in response to a lawsuit filed by Roman Catholic and Jewish organizations in New York challenging restrictive public health mandates with limited religious services.
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“Government is not free to disregard the First Amendment in times of crisis. At a minimum, that Amendment prohibits government officials from treating religious exercises worse than comparable secular activities, unless they are pursuing a compelling interest and using the least restrictive means available,” Gorsuch wrote. “It is time, past time, to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques.”
Officials in California <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/l-a-county-to-pay-400000-to-john-macarthurs-grace-community-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> after another Supreme Court opinion to settle lawsuits from Grace Community Church for a combined $800,000. “We know that there is no circumstance that can cause the church to close,” Pastor John MacArthur said in a letter to the authorities. “The church is not only a building but is the bride of Christ and exists to proclaim the truth.”

Joseph Kennedy, Supreme Court

Coach Fired For Praying At Football Game Reinstated To Old Role, Gets Nearly $2 Million Settlement

Coach Fired For Praying At Football Game Gets Nearly $2 Million Settlement

Courts

Public Schools

Sports

Supreme Court

In a typically lame attempt at comedy, late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the case of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-is-just-incredible-to-know-that-i-did-nothing-wrong-joseph-kennedy-celebrates-scotus-win-for-religious-freedom">high school football coach who prayed on the field</a>.
He got roasted.
“If the Supreme Court is going to allow prayer in the middle of a high school football field, they should allow high school football games in the middle of a church,” Colbert taunted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If the Supreme Court is going to allow prayer in the middle of a high school football field, they should allow high school football games in the middle of a church.
&mdash; Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/1541971967686807552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Colbert was referencing the <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-affirms-religious-liberty-rules-in-favor-of-public-high-school-football-coach-punished-for-praying-after-games/">Court’s decision</a> in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which revolved around Joseph Kennedy, the Washington state public high school football coach who was placed on administrative leave by the school district and banned from participating in the football program for praying on the field after games.
Justice Neil Gorsuch <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf">wrote</a> in the majority opinion, “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. 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.”
“Kennedy’s private religious exercise did not come close to crossing any line one might imagine separating protected private expression from impermissible government coercion,” Gorsuch added.
Colbert’s tweet engendered derision on social media as his supposed comedic genius got dragged.
“I miss comedy that wasn&#8217;t just college sophomores thinking they just discovered arguing.”
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I miss comedy that wasn&#39;t just college sophomores thinking they just discovered arguing. <a href="https://t.co/N8XWCkJzn6">https://t.co/N8XWCkJzn6</a>
&mdash; Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) <a href="https://twitter.com/baseballcrank/status/1542291508476477441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Gold. You can understand now why they give this guy $15 million a year.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Gold. You can understand now why they give this guy $15 million a year. <a href="https://t.co/ZCmmxyyJyl">https://t.co/ZCmmxyyJyl</a>
&mdash; David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidharsanyi/status/1542196918092066816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Alexa, show me a dumb*** attempting to connect things that literally have nothing to do with each other whatsoever, which will then prove his dumb*** audience nodding in approval is even dumber than he is.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Alexa, show me a dumbass attempting to connect things that literally have nothing to do with each other whatsoever, which will then prove his dumbass audience nodding in approval is even dumber than he is. <a href="https://t.co/Zt6wasDJhj">https://t.co/Zt6wasDJhj</a>
&mdash; Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveDeaceShow/status/1542211956676984837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“As a pastor&#8217;s kid and former high school football player I could totally get on board with with [sic] this.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
As a pastor&#39;s kid and former high school football player I could totally get on board with with this. <a href="https://t.co/zUBrxwhrnr">https://t.co/zUBrxwhrnr</a>
&mdash; Barnabas Piper (@BarnabasPiper) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarnabasPiper/status/1542214302207188995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“This is moronic.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is moronic. <a href="https://t.co/D7n0pcOYMu">https://t.co/D7n0pcOYMu</a>
&mdash; Chad Felix Greene 🏳️‍🌈 (@chadfelixg) <a href="https://twitter.com/chadfelixg/status/1542292072027258881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In March, Colbert was bashed after he <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1501158360368001026">pontificated</a> from his elitist perch in the face of rising gas prices, “Today, the average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4/gallon. OK, that stings, but a clean conscience is worth a buck or two. It’s important. I’m willing to pay $4/gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon b/c I drive a Tesla.”

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert Mocks SCOTUS Religious Freedom Decision. He Gets Roasted.

Religious Freedom

Stephen Colbert

Joseph Kennedy, the high school football coach whose prayer on the field led to a landmark case and a victory for religious freedom, celebrated after the verdict was reached, saying, “It is just incredible to know that I did nothing wrong.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-affirms-religious-liberty-rules-in-favor-of-public-high-school-football-coach-punished-for-praying-after-games/">explained</a> after the verdict on Monday:
<blockquote>On Monday morning, the Supreme Court ruled in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf">Kennedy v. Bremerton School District</a> that Kennedy had his First Amendment rights violated after he was placed on administrative leave by the school district and banned from participating in the football program for praying on the field after games in view of students.</blockquote>
“I don&#8217;t even know how to put it into words,” Kennedy told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10958965/Incredible-know-did-wrong-Football-coach-fired-praying-wants-old-job-back.html">The Daily Mail</a> in an exclusive interview. “They should give me a day off to think about it and process it all.”
“It is just incredible to know that I did nothing wrong. Everything I did was fine,” he continued. “And that the First Amendment is fine and well for everyone.”
First Liberty, which represented Kennedy, <a href="https://firstliberty.org/cases/coachkennedy/">summed up</a> the case’s history through the courts:
<blockquote>The Bremerton (WA) School District suspended, and later fired, Coach Kennedy over his silent, 15-second prayer. First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against the school district, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. A federal district court upheld Coach Kennedy’s termination. On appeal, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that, because Coach Kennedy could be seen by students and fans engaging in religious expression, the school lawfully terminated his employment and his silent prayers were not protected by the Constitution.
In January 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review Coach Kennedy&#8217;s case but the case has returned to the District Court to answer some of the questions raised by the Justices. Upon re-hearing, the District Court and then Ninth Circuit again sided with the school district setting up a return to the U.S. Supreme Court.</blockquote>
“I had a commitment with God that I&#8217;d give him thanks after every football game, win or lose,” Kennedy recalled. “And that&#8217;s the way I started out.&#8221;
&#8220;I had some kids that wanted to join, and they asked, and of course it&#8217;s a free country,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They can do whatever they want. And that went on fine for eight years.”
“Then someone made a complaint, and they started an investigation,” he noted. “And the lawyers got involved from the school district and they wanted to completely remove all religious aspects from the public schools. So they fired me, and I&#8217;ve just been fighting ever since to get back.”
“I really thought if someone just looked at the facts of the case and the way the Constitution was written, that they would have to rule in my favor,” he opined. “I was optimistic every step of the way, and I was surprised that the lower courts ruled against me &#8211; some of them so harshly. I was waiting for someone to get beyond whatever their bias was, and just look at the facts of the case. And rule accordingly.”
“I think every American should have been totally 100 percent on my side. From just my perspective,” he stated. “This is about the First Amendment. It has nothing to do with infringing on anybody else&#8217;s. This is somebody exercising the freedom that is in our country.”
“People feel the Constitution has been put aside, and they haven&#8217;t had the freedom. And that&#8217;s why they are so excited about this,” he surmised.
Kennedy asserted he just wants to return to his old job, saying, “That&#8217;s all I asked for, from the beginning. The only thing I asked for was to be a coach, and thank God after. So I&#8217;m waiting for the school district and my lawyers to figure that out.”

‘It Is Just Incredible To Know That I Did Nothing Wrong’: Joseph Kennedy Celebrates SCOTUS Win For Religious Freedom

High School Football Coach Who Won SCOTUS Case Speaks Out

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Joseph Kennedy

Coach Who Won Landmark SCOTUS Prayer Ruling Steps Away From Football To Advocate For Religious Liberty

Coach Fired For Praying At Football Game Reinstated To Old Role, Gets Nearly $2 Million Settlement

Stephen Colbert Mocks SCOTUS Religious Freedom Decision. He Gets Roasted.

‘It Is Just Incredible To Know That I Did Nothing Wrong’: Joseph Kennedy Celebrates SCOTUS Win For Religious Freedom