Supreme Court finds for coach

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning, Monday, June 27, that a football coach can lead a moment of silence and on the field after the conclusion of a game.

The court ruled, 6-3, in favor of former Bremerton Coach Joseph Kennedy, who challenged his firing.

The court found the Bremerton School District violated Kennedy’s religious freedom when it ordered him to stop leading a moment of silence on the 50-yard line and when it fired the coach for refusing to obey.

Players and others joined Kennedy on the field voluntarily, and were not coerced into doing so, the court found.

“Both the free exercise and free speech clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the ruling. “The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”

The ruling was among several that have already been released or are forthcoming.

The court also ruled, 6-3, last week to overturn Roe V. Wade. The decision returns abortion laws to state Legislatures, noting they are not a “right” under the Constitution.

Another ruling with far-reaching implications has yet to come in an environmental case that could end federal bureaucratic law-making disguised as rules.