Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

rdf:langString Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

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rdf:langString Joseph A. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

rdf:langString Sotomayor

rdf:langString Breyer, Kagan

rdf:langString Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Barrett; Kavanaugh

rdf:langString ___

rdf:langString Kennedy v. Bremerton School District,

rdf:langString Joseph A. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

rdf:langString The Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal; the Constitution neither mandates nor permits the government to suppress such religious expression.

rdf:langString Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

rdf:langString Gorsuch

rdf:langString Supreme Court

rdf:langString Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. ___ (2022), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held, 6–3, that the government, while following the Establishment Clause, may not suppress an individual from engaging in personal religious observance, as doing so would violate the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. The case involved Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach in the public school system of Bremerton, Washington. Kennedy had taken the practice of praying at the middle of the field immediately after each game. The practice was soon joined by the players and others. The school board were concerned the practice would be seen as infringing on the Establishment Clause separating church and state. They attempted to negotiate with Kennedy to pray elsewhere or at a later time, but Kennedy continued the practice. His contract was not renewed, leading Kennedy to sue the board. Lower Courts, including the Ninth Circuit, ruled in favor of the school board and their argument regarding the Establishment Clause. The majority opinion from the Supreme Court found that the Establishment Clause does not allow a government body to take a hostile view of religion in considering personal rights under the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses, ruling that the board acted improperly in not renewing Kennedy's contract. The decision all but overturned Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and abandoned the subsequent "Lemon test", which had been used to evaluate government actions within the scope of the Establishment Clause but had been falling out of favor for decades prior.

rdf:langString Thomas

rdf:langString Alito

rdf:langString Lemon v. Kurtzman