The Tangled Case of the High School Coach Who Prayed
A public employee set an example for his players with an open display of religion on the 50-yard line. Does that violate the Constitution’s establishment clause?
Coach Joseph Kennedy takes his case to the Supreme Court.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images
I feel bad for anyone not steeped in establishment clause jurisprudence who happened to listen to the Supreme Court’s oral arguments in the football coach prayer case, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
On the surface, the question is simple: Can the public high school coach kneel and pray silently on the 50-yard line after games? But the doctrine the court has created over the years is so complicated and confused that you would be hard-pressed to make any sense of the debates without a law school course on the First Amendment under your belt.