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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Judges Rule Football Coaches Cannot Pray on Football Field

A Washington state high school football coach who was punished for taking a knee at the 50-yard line for a post-game prayer violated the U.S. Constitution, according to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

A three-judge panel ruled the Bremerton School District was justified in suspending Coach Joe Kennedy after he took a knee and prayed silently at mid-field after football games.

“When Kennedy kneeled and prayed on the fifty-yard line immediately after games while in view of students and parents, he spoke as a public employee, not as a private citizen, and his speech therefore was constitutionally unprotected,” the 9th Circuit wrote.

Kennedy, who served as an assistant coach at Bremerton High School from 2008-2015, was ordered to refrain from bowing his head, taking a knee or doing anything that could be perceived as praying on public school property.

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20 comments:

Steve said...

Show me in the Constitution where it says that. The 9th Circuit is absolutely unconstitutional in their decision!. Coach praying does not equal "Congeress shall make no law" in any sense of the law!

Anonymous said...

After reading the full article...the last sentence says it all. Sad.

Anonymous said...

Free Country. Judges who cannot read Constitutions must be sent down the river.

Jim said...


"he spoke as a public employee, not as a private citizen, and his speech therefore was constitutionally unprotected,” the 9th Circuit wrote."

Where does the First Amendment make a distinction between public employees and private citizens?

If he is a citizen of the US his speech and free exercise of religion are guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Period.

Anonymous said...

Every coach in the country should "take a knee to the Lord" and immediately turn themselves in to the 9th Circuit and fill their books for the next 100 years!

You want Game?

You GOT IT! LOL!

Anonymous said...


9th Circuit is the flakey bunch. Hope he'll get help taking it to the Supremes. Since only he is doing it, he should prevail. And then he should look for a new employer.

LastMohican said...

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguably the most liberal and misguided federal court in the country, has issued a ruling that justifies the punishment of coaches for praying on public school football fields. The big reason? Because parents and teachers can see them doing so and therefore it’s a violation not protected under the U.S. Constitution.

AF Vet @ronaf59
NASCAR has a public prayer before every race, what is the difference in that and a coach praying on a football field?

Donna Patterson Lyon @donnalyon25
What happened to freedom of speech and religious expression...God, please help all us!!

Carlisle @clemsonorange63
We all need to stand up for protection of our guaranteed free speech rights from our Constitution. All of this is pathetic. Coach, pray.

Michele Highbe @MicheleHighbe
Sad to be an American without being able to pray when and where you want. The USA judicial system is so out of control.

Some people get it. There is something that is so terribly wrong with this ruling, and that court. It's based in San Francisco so that says something.

"They" are going after our guns, statues (history/heritage), and now our religion, again.

I am starting to NOT recognize this country any longer. Boys/men in girls/women bathrooms, soldiers going to jail for killing the enemy, people going to jail for refusing to bake a cake, people getting offended by anything and everything, people rioting because they don't like who the American people elected, blacks forming a Black Lives Matter group when blacks are the ones killing the majority of blacks, reporters making things up as they go and outright lying and calling it "news", politicians aligning themselves with hate groups and anti-American groups to secure votes, etc.

I'm sure I missed a few things but I was getting depressed and angry. lol.

We have our president trying to Make America Great Again, and a lot of others who seem to wish we fall to a third world country level.

I'm expecting to see a rider on a pale horse any day now.

Anonymous said...

But it's ok for Colin k to take a knee.... what a joke the judicial system is

Anonymous said...

Do it in protest.

Anonymous said...

May GOD have mercy on their souls

lmclain said...

Every time the weak, the weird, the deviant, the perverted, the strange, and yes , the always offended losers of the world look for a court to validate them, they ALWAYS go to the 9th Circuit Court.
They can count on the most convoluted and twisted logic and reasoning to come to a conclusion that only people in San Francisco can believe. The rest of the country looks at them and says "WTF???".
A court has actually ruled that he's not allowed to BOW HIS HEAD!! Is he allowed to bend his knee or turn his head? How about using the bathroom at halftime? Remember, he was SILENT. His offense? LOOKING LIKE he MIGHT be "praying". He should have said "I was thanking allah and his legion of killers". The one guy in the stands who was offended would have just said "Oh, Okay, it's cool".
It's way beyond the point where "we the people" should have stood up and said "ENOUGH!". People who were NEVER ELECTED tell us now that we can't bow our heads if we are working for a living.
Our pompous, arrogant, and elitist leaders have injected and inserted themselves into our daily lives where they have NO BUSINESS. They have forgotten their place long ago.
Turning your head to speak to your kid is now a reason for an "interaction"
with the Gestapo. Bowing your head van get you terminated from a 20 year job.Spanking your kid gets you 2-5 years. Displaying an American flag is an act of terrorism and offends people (and the court backs them up!).
We are going to need more ammo.
Keep cheering.

LastMohican said...

We are going to need more ammo.
Keep cheering.

August 25, 2017 at 9:25 AM

Maybe not. After the first shot, most snowflakes will hightail it back to their momma's basement and hide under the bed.

Anonymous said...

The court made the right decision, and no one is stopping anyone's religious anything.

It's a football game on public property. It's not a prayer revival. This man marched out to the 50 yard like to make a spectacle of what he was doing. His intent was to send a religious message, in the hopes of proselytizing. In doing so he violates the establishment clause of the Constitution.

Just as would any religious person. If a coach or teacher went to the 50 yard line, put prayer mats facing Mecca and started praying muslim prayers to Allah, it would be the same.

What it looks like from my point of view is that evangelicals want to force feed their brand of religiosity on the masses. They want and crave to be able to decry persecution, so they bring it upon themselves, and when they don't get to enjoy their Christian privilege and get called out on it, they throw a tantrum.

Look, it just boils down to being respectful. We are a nation of religious liberty and freedom. The establishment clause has a purpose, to ensure that one religion is not favored over others, especially when one may happen to enjoy the majority status at that time. Trying to force feed your religion upon people at an inappropriate time is just disrespectful. At a public event that is not centered around religiosity is inappropriate.

The actions of this coach was not praying on his own, he was purposefully making a spectacle of himself. Also, this was not a "one off" moment.. this coach has a history of doing this and more. To say he was simply a man praying after a football game is dishonest.




Anonymous said...

Prayer, God, Church, Allah, all of it is a big bunch of BS.
This is the same as the magic of Santa, Easter Bunny, Leprechauns. Why do you think all of the really intelligent folks don't believe in this crap, because it is all fantasy.

Anonymous said...

Once I saw 9th circuit I stopped reading the article. No need to go on.

Anonymous said...

August 25, 2017 at 12:04 PM

Oh Lord, we have one in our midst.

Why do you think all of the really intelligent folks don't believe in this crap, because it is all fantasy.

August 25, 2017 at 12:24 PM

And I bet YOU think you are one of those "really intelligent" folks, don't you? lmao

smdh

Anonymous said...

12:04, Coach does not = Congress, and Congress made no laws.

What were you saying, again?

Anonymous said...

@3:31 pm

Fortunately, our legal system and courts understand the law, as you clearly do not.

The establishment clause and the law have been ruled on many many times, and the understanding of the law if plainly clear to all who understand the law, which again, you do not.

So, what were you saying, again?

Anonymous said...

His next stop should be the Supreme Court. They might now, with Trump's latest addition to the court, have a different opinion.

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