Under the Law: Prayer Huddle

Past U.S. Supreme Court rulings have held that schools and school employees must be careful to engage in religious activities while at school that could appear to endorse a particular religion above others or coerce students to engage in religious activities. However, the June 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton School District opinion suggests that the current Court is far more concerned about violating school employees' free exercise rights. In this case, the Court found that not allowing a football coach to pray, often with students, on the 50-yard line immediately following public school football games violated the coach's religious free exercise rights. Robert Kim discusses the Court's history with cases involving religious practice in schools and the potential implications of the Kennedy decision.