The US Supreme Court on Monday (June 27) ruled that a Washington state public school district violated rights of a football coach by suspending him for leading prayers on the field after games.

The judges sided with Joseph Kennedy, the coach. Kennedy served as a part-time assistant football coach until 2015 in Bremerton. His case has become cause celebre for conservative Christian activists.

US Supreme Court's conservative justices were in the majority in 6-3 ruling. Liberal members dissented.

The decision, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, held that Kennedy's actions were protected by his rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment, which protects free speech and religious expression.

Gorsuch rejected the local school district's concerns that in a public school setting Kennedy's prayers and Christian-infused speeches could be seen as coercive to students or a governmental endorsement of a particular religion in violation of the First Amendment's so-called establishment clause.

Kennedy told Reuters that the judgment was a 'big sigh of relief' for him. He fought the case for years.

"My beliefs are my personal beliefs. I would never force them upon anybody and nobody had," Kennedy said in a Zoom interview.

He added: "I know that it sounds really probably cliche, but the Constitution applies to everybody equally. It's not for the Christians or the Jews or the atheists or whoever, it is for all Americans. And that's why I thought this was such a huge win, that it's more of a freedom of speech thing to me personally, because it was just a moment between me and God. It had nothing to do with anybody else."

Jeremy Dys, Kennedy's attorney from First Liberty Institute, said the judgment was a victory, not only for Kennedy but "for people of faith &nbsp;who occupy roles as public school teachers and coaches and other staff that could otherwise be fired from their job for engaging in a private act of religious worship."

Not everyone is happy with the judgment. Rachel Laser, the CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State which represented the Bremerton School District, said the Supreme Court's decision was the 'greatest loss of religious freedom in a generation'.

(With inputs from agencies)

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

&nbsp;

The US Supreme Court on Monday (June 27) ruled that a Washington state public school district violated rights of a football coach by suspending him for leading prayers on the field after games.

The US Supreme Court on Monday (June 27) ruled that a Washington state public school district violated rights of a football coach by suspending him for leading prayers on the field after games. The judges sided with Joseph Kennedy, the coach. Kennedy served as a part-time assistant football coach until 2015 in Bremerton. His case has become cause celebre for conservative Christian activists. US Supreme Court's conservative justices were in the majority in 6-3 ruling. Liberal members dissented. The decision, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, held that Kennedy's actions were protected by his rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment, which protects free speech and religious expression. Gorsuch rejected the local school district's concerns that in a public school setting Kennedy's prayers and Christian-infused speeches could be seen as coercive to students or a governmental endorsement of a particular religion in violation of the First Amendment's so-called establishment clause. Kennedy told Reuters that the judgment was a 'big sigh of relief' for him. He fought the case for years. "My beliefs are my personal beliefs. I would never force them upon anybody and nobody had," Kennedy said in a Zoom interview. He added: "I know that it sounds really probably cliche, but the Constitution applies to everybody equally. It's not for the Christians or the Jews or the atheists or whoever, it is for all Americans. And that's why I thought this was such a huge win, that it's more of a freedom of speech thing to me personally, because it was just a moment between me and God. It had nothing to do with anybody else." Jeremy Dys, Kennedy's attorney from First Liberty Institute, said the judgment was a victory, not only for Kennedy but "for people of faith who occupy roles as public school teachers and coaches and other staff that could otherwise be fired from their job for engaging in a private act of religious worship." Not everyone is happy with the judgment. Rachel Laser, the CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State which represented the Bremerton School District, said the Supreme Court's decision was the 'greatest loss of religious freedom in a generation'. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Suspension of praying football coach violated his rights: US Supreme Court

It was the romance that provided the happiest of endings to an iconic memoir that became an international bestseller and also spawned a Hollywood movie starring Julia Roberts. 
 
Eat, Pray, Love&nbsp;author Elizabeth Gilbert announced on Friday that she was parting from her husband, Jose Nunes, with whom she fell in love at the end of a journey of self-discovery more than a decade ago. 
 
&quot;I am separating from the man whom many of you know as &#39;Felipe&#39; &mdash; the man whom I fell in love with at the end of the &#39;Eat, Pray, Love&#39; &nbsp;journey,&quot; she wrote on her Facebook page. 
 
&quot;He has been my dear companion for over 12 years, and they have been wonderful years. Our split is very amicable. Our reasons are very personal.&quot; 
 
The couple married in 2007 and lived in Frenchtown, New Jersey, about 96 kilometres west of New York, where they ran a store. 
 
Eat, Pray, Love tells how Gilbert spent four months in Italy savouring food, four months exploring spirituality in India and then travelled to Bali, where she fell in love, following a messy divorce. 
 
Published in 2006, it has been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. 
 
In 2010, she published a follow-up memoir called Committed&nbsp;which explored her ambivalent attitudes about marriage and which also became a New York Times bestseller. 
 
The 46-year-old author and novelist&#39;s experience of bartending, while trying to make ends meet in New York earlier in her career, became the basis for the movie Coyote Ugly&nbsp;in 2000. 
 
Time Magazine named Gilbert one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. 
 
(AFP)

Elizabeth Gilbert parts from her 'dear companion' after 12 years of marriage, says the 'split is very amicable'

It was the romance that provided the happiest of endings to an iconic memoir that became an international bestseller and also spawned a Hollywood movie starring Julia Roberts. Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert announced on Friday that she was parting from her husband, Jose Nunes, with whom she fell in love at the end of a journey of self-discovery more than a decade ago. "I am separating from the man whom many of you know as 'Felipe' — the man whom I fell in love with at the end of the 'Eat, Pray, Love' journey," she wrote on her Facebook page. "He has been my dear companion for over 12 years, and they have been wonderful years. Our split is very amicable. Our reasons are very personal." The couple married in 2007 and lived in Frenchtown, New Jersey, about 96 kilometres west of New York, where they ran a store. Eat, Pray, Love tells how Gilbert spent four months in Italy savouring food, four months exploring spirituality in India and then travelled to Bali, where she fell in love, following a messy divorce. Published in 2006, it has been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. In 2010, she published a follow-up memoir called Committed which explored her ambivalent attitudes about marriage and which also became a New York Times bestseller. The 46-year-old author and novelist's experience of bartending, while trying to make ends meet in New York earlier in her career, became the basis for the movie Coyote Ugly in 2000. Time Magazine named Gilbert one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. (AFP)

Eat, Pray, Divorce. Best-selling author separates

pray

Pray, News on Pray, stories on Pray, articles on Pray, Pray stories at Wion, Pray news, Pray latest news