Joseph Kennedy is retuning to the sideline at Bremerton High School in the state of Washington with a big settlement after his win in the United States Supreme Court allowing him to pray publicly on the football field.
Earlier this month, the Bremerton School District announced that it was awarding $1.7 million to the coach, who was also reinstated for the 2023 season.
Last June, by a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled that Kennedy of Bremerton High School had the right to pray on the field immediately after games. Kennedy claimed that the school district violated his religious freedom by not allowing him to pray publicly.
Kennedy’s contract wasn’t renewed after the 2015 season. That year, the suburban Seattle school district asked the coach to stop praying on the field at the 50-yard line after games.
Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion, “The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
