SCOTUS rules in favor of football coach fired for postgame prayers

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in favor of former high school football coach Joseph Kennedy, who was suspended then not rehired after leading postgame prayers on the 50-yard line.

"The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the conservative majority.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who dissented along with Justices Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer, wrote that the ruling "sets us further down a perilous path in forcing States to entangle themselves with religion."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

This decision comes as the fourth major Supreme Court victory for conservatives in less than a week. The court ruled on Wednesday that a Maine tuition voucher program could not exclude religious schools. On Thursday, the court struck down a New York law restricting the concealed carry of handguns. The next day, conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, returning the issue of abortion to the states.