A high school football coach who was fired for praying with students at games will return to the gridiron four months after the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in his favor.
Joe Kennedy will be reinstated as the head coach of the Bremerton High School football team in Washington state, according to court documents filed Tuesday. The filing comes after the Supreme Court in June ruled 6-3 on ideological lines that the school district had violated his right to exercise his religion freely when it fired him for praying after football games.
Kennedy was first relieved of his duties as head coach in 2015. He sued, claiming that Bremerton School District had fired him in violation of his First Amendment right to freedom of religion , beginning a protracted legal battle with the district that culminated with the June high court’s ruling in his favor.
The Tuesday filing says Kennedy will be reinstated as head coach of the team no later than March 15, 2023, and contains a clause that says, “Bremerton School District shall not interfere with or prohibit Kennedy from offering a prayer consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion.”