How a Fight for Faith Took Him to the Supreme Court

For seven years, football coach Joe Kennedy prayed on the 50-yard line after games. Students often joined him for the prayers. But in 2015, Kennedy’s Seattle school district learned about the tradition and told Kennedy he no longer could pray with students. Kennedy agreed and says he never prayed with students again.

Kennedy continued to pray by himself after games, he says, but soon “school lawyers got involved, and they kind of kept moving the goal post.” Because he would not stop praying, Kennedy was put on administrative leave and was not rehired as a coach for the following year.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit against the school district, and the Supreme Court heard his case in April. The justices are expected to rule on Kennedy’s case this June.