In his 2016 complaint, Kennedy introduced claims in opposition to the District for, amongst others, violation of his constitutional rights below the First Modification. He argued that the municipality unlawfully stifled his constitutional rights to non secular train and free speech as a non-public citizen. When he moved for a preliminary injunction, which might have reinstated him to his former place and allowed him to proceed his on-field postgame prayers, each the district courtroom and the appeals court rejected his claims.
Upon additional fact-finding, the Washington district courtroom lastly awarded summary judgment in favor of the District in 2020. First, the courtroom confirmed that Kennedy spoke as a public worker, and never as a non-public citizen, when giving his postgame prayers. Because the courtroom defined, a public college instructor essentially acts as a public worker when 1) in school or a college operate; 2) within the basic presence of scholars; 3) in a capability one may fairly view as official. The district courtroom discovered Kennedy’s conduct to simply meet all three of those circumstances, as his spiritual observance was performed on the “expressive focus,” the 50-yard line of the college soccer subject, which is similar to the entrance of a classroom, in plain view of scholars and fogeys, instantly after the video games of the crew he coaches. Second, the decrease courtroom discovered the suspension of the praying coach to be adequately justified. Sans the suspension, the District wouldn’t have been capable of keep away from the “look of presidency sponsorship of faith.” The decrease courtroom determination was once more upheld by the Ninth Circuit in 2021. Simply as in 2018, the District had maintained its lead.
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