WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) – A decision by the Supreme Court lowers the bar between church and state.
Monday, the high court sided in favor of a Washington State high school football coach who got fired for praying at the 50-yard line after games.
Monday, the justices ruled 6-3 that the school district violated Joe Kennedy’s First Amendment rights, saying the coach’s prayers amounted to private speech, protected by the First Amendment.
In the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the decision was based on “mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the dissenting opinion, saying the decision, “Elevates one individual’s interest in personal religious exercise, in the exact time and place of that individual’s choosing, over society’s interest in protecting the separation between church and state.”
Kennedy praised the court’s decision, saying he just wants to be back on the field with his guys.
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