Former Bremerton High School football coach Joseph Kennedy, who was fired for leading midfield prayers with players and other students after games, was reinstated and will reportedly receive a $1.7 million settlement, Yahoo reported.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy could legally lead prayers under his First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.
The high court ruled 6-3 Monday in Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District for Kennedy, and every Republican-appointed justice sided with Kennedy; every Democratic-appointed justice dissented, The Seattle Times reported.
"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 majority.
Students, Gorsuch wrote, were not required to participate in Kennedy's prayer sessions, and the prayers were not publicly broadcast. He wrote that Kennedy's prayer, on the 50-yard line immediately after games ended, occurred "while his students were otherwise occupied."
Other courts had said that public school-sponsored prayer violated the Establishment Clause, even if the prayer was voluntary, Yahoo reported. However, the currently appointed Supreme Court judges had enough in the majority to believe that Kennedy's actions violated no such clause — though not without dissent.
"Official-led prayer strikes at the core of our constitutional protections for the religious liberty of students and their parents," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.
Kennedy, who served in the Marine Corps for nearly two decades, started coaching at the Washington state school in 2008 and initially prayed alone on the 50-yard line at the end of games. But students and players soon joined him, and he began giving short talks with religious references.
The district learned of his prayers and talks and asked him to stop. Initially, he said he would comply and stopped leading students in prayer in the locker room and on the field. But he wanted to continue praying on the field by himself, with students free to join if they wished.
The district had said Kennedy was free to pray on the 50-yard line if it didn't interfere with his official duties, or when he was off duty, but doing so immediately after a game ended could be seen as the school endorsing religion.
"This is just so awesome," Kennedy said Monday, in a statement. "All I've ever wanted was to be back on the field with my guys."
Kennedy will return to the school in 2023, where it's expected he'll be on the sidelines for the football team and will continue his postgame prayers, Yahoo reported.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.