Joe Kennedy, who was fired in 2015 after he refused to stop saying prayers on the field while acting as a public school coach, told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that he plans to take his case to the Supreme Court after he lost his latest appeal.
“The First Amendment is under attack and somebody’s got to stand up for it,” he told host Ainsley Earhardt.
Speaking on “Fox & Friends,” Kennedy shared this message: “Stand up for your faith and hopefully we won’t have to have anybody else choose between their faith and job.”
The former high school football coach and his legal team have alleged Kennedy’s First Amendment rights were violated by the Bremerton School District in Washington state after he was issued an order to end his prayer sessions while on the field with players.
“We feel really confident we will be able to go to the Supreme Court and finally get this overturned and restore coach Joe to the football field,” Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty Institute, which is representing Kennedy, said on “Fox & Friends.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to rehear arguments challenging a ruling by a district court in favor of the school district.
Kennedy was first suspended and then fired after he refused to stop saying prayers on the field in 2015.
The former coach’s post-game prayers began with him silently praying alone on the field, though he was later joined by players.
On Wednesday, Kennedy told Earhardt that he believes “nobody was really offended at the time.”
“Every school employee, especially coaches, they have a right to be able to pray whenever they’re not doing their official thing,” Sasser said. “So that’s what Coach Kennedy was doing.”
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