(LifeSiteNews) — Twenty-four Republican attorneys general have asked the Supreme Court to hear a challenge from a Christian coach fired for praying after football games.
The amicus brief, filed on Tuesday, asks the nation’s highest court to hear Coach Joe Kennedy’s appeal after he was fired from his job for silently praying after his high school football team’s games. He would also sometimes pray with his team. Bremerton School District in Washington fired Kennedy in 2015.
“By concluding that Coach Kennedy acted as a public employee rather than a private citizen when kneeling and praying on the football field,” the 24 AGs said, “the Ninth Circuit impermissibly expanded his job description in a way that leaves teachers and other public employees in the Ninth Circuit questioning what counts as public as opposed to private speech.”
The Supreme Court refused to hear Kennedy’s appeal in 2019 because there were “unresolved factual questions” that “would make it very difficult if not impossible at this stage to decide the free speech question.”
But four justices, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch, joined in a statement that said “the Ninth Circuit’s understanding of the free speech rights of public school teachers is troubling and may justify review in the future.”
The attorneys general amicus brief discussed similar concerns.
“The Ninth Circuit’s holding not only curtails the private religious expression of public employees, but it also contradicts well-settled precedent of this Court,” the AGs said. It warned that “the Ninth Circuit’s decision threatens to curtail First Amendment liberties and in turn, deter individuals from seeking public employment.”
The group of Republicans warned the consequences will be “grave … especially within the realm of public education.”
“Religious expression and public service can and must coexist,” the amicus brief concluded. “By holding otherwise, the Ninth Circuit strips public servants of their First Amendment rights, to the detriment of educators, students, and the American public.”
The brief’s authors included Texas’ Ken Paxton and Arizona’s Mark Brnovich.
Arizona’s top law enforcement official explained further why he supports the Christian coach’s right to pray.
UPDATE 10/29/2021:
Joe Biden claims Pope Francis said he should continue receiving Holy Communion, despite the president's radical, anti-Catholic support for abortion. Biden asserted that the pontiff “was happy I’m a good Catholic,” and that the president should “keep receiving Communion.”
Please SIGN this urgent petition to Pope Francis urging him to clarify what he told Biden at his private audience in Rome. Biden should be facing formal excommunication because of his public and obstinate promotion of abortion, but instead we have the perverse situation in which he claims to have the blessing of the pope to sacrilegiously receive Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Pope Francis must clarify what exactly was said in order to avoid scandal and being complicit in such grave sin. If Joe Biden wishes to return to communion with the Church he must immediately and publicly stop and repent from his active support of the culture of death.
To ensure that this petition reaches Pope Francis, it will also be CC'ed to the Papal Nuncio of the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, as well as to the Chairman of the Pro-Life Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Joseph Naumann.
Indeed, Joe Biden recently proposed a budget which would eliminate the Hyde Amendment, potentially allowing billions of taxpayer dollars to go to the funding of abortion domestically.
So, it is now an indisputable fact that Joe Biden, himself, is forcing abortion on the American public as well as around the world (e.g., Biden's executive order abolishing the Mexico City Policy).
However, since we know that the Church prioritizes abortion as the "pre-eminent" moral issue, and also how the pope has recently reiterated the teaching that abortion is "homicide," we ask the Pope to ensure that Biden's scandalous claim be clarified and his support for abortion be condemned.
This is the prime opportunity for the pope to make it crystal clear to Biden: Promoting abortion is absolutely and utterly incompatible with being in communion with the Church, and that those politicians who publicly and obstinately support abortion effectively put themselves outside communion with the Church, but also merit formal excommunication.
Joe Biden's active and concentrated promotion of abortion since he took office only 9 months ago is a grave scandal to the faithful of the United States, and to Catholics everywhere.
But, perhaps even more scandalous is the USCCB's decision not to directly and publicly address how Biden's radical, public promotion of abortion affects his standing in the Church.
The silence from our American shepherds is deafening.
Therefore, Pope Francis must now intervene to protect both the Holy Eucharist and our preborn brothers and sisters from death, to protect authentic Church teaching from deceitful "Catholics" like Joe Biden, and to protect the faithful from the grievous scandal caused by Biden's claims, action and the intolerable dithering and "dialoging" engaged in by the USCCB.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Biden will meet with Pope Francis to discuss ‘human dignity,’ but abortion left off agenda'
'Biden restores foreign aid to abortion by repealing Mexico City Policy'
'Removing the Hyde Amendment in Biden’s proposed budget will set a precedent'
ORIGINAL PETITION:
Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Pope Francis in Rome in a rapidly approaching audience on October 29th.
Please SIGN this urgent petition to Pope Francis urging him to tell Biden that he will face formal excommunication because of his public and obstinate promotion of abortion, and that if he wishes to return to communion with the Church he must immediately and publicly stop and repent from his active support of the culture of death.
To ensure that this petition reaches Pope Francis, it will also be CC'ed to the Papal Nuncio of the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, as well as to the Chairman of the Pro-Life Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Joseph Naumann.
Indeed, Joe Biden recently proposed a budget which would eliminate the Hyde Amendment, potentially allowing billions of taxpayer dollars to go to the funding of abortion domestically.
So, it is now an indisputable fact that Joe Biden, himself, is forcing abortion on the American public as well as around the world (e.g., Biden's executive order abolishing the Mexico City Policy).
But, reports suggest that the pope and Biden are only supposed to speak about COVID and climate change...
However, since we know that the Church prioritizes abortion as the "pre-eminent" moral issue, and also how the pope has recently reiterated the teaching that abortion is "homicide," we ask the Pope to ensure that Biden's scandalous support of abortion become the central focus of their meeting.
This is the prime opportunity for the pope to make it crystal clear to Biden: Promoting abortion is absolutely and utterly incompatible with being in communion with the Church, and that those politicians who publicly and obstinately support abortion effectively put themselves outside communion with the Church, but also merit formal excommunication.
Joe Biden's active and concentrated promotion of abortion since he took office only 9 months ago is a grave scandal to the faithful of the United States, and to Catholics everywhere.
But, perhaps even more scandalous is the USCCB's decision not to directly and publicly address how Biden's radical, public promotion of abortion affects his standing in the Church.
The silence from our American shepherds is deafening.
Therefore, Pope Francis must now intervene to protect our preborn brothers and sisters from death, to protect authentic Church teaching from deceitful "Catholics" like Joe Biden, and to protect the faithful from the grievous scandal caused by Biden's action and the intolerable dithering and "dialoging" engaged in by the USCCB.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Biden will meet with Pope Francis to discuss ‘human dignity,’ but abortion left off agenda' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/biden-will-meet-with-pope-francis-to-discuss-human-dignity-abortion-left-off-agenda/
'Biden restores foreign aid to abortion by repealing Mexico City Policy' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/biden-restores-foreign-aid-to-abortion-with-repeal-of-mexico-city-policy/
'Removing the Hyde Amendment in Biden’s proposed budget will set a precedent' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/removing-the-hyde-amendment-in-bidens-proposed-budget-will-set-a-precedent/
**Photo Credit: CBSN / YouTube
“Americans do not abandon their religious liberties at the door of their workplace,” Brnovich said in a news release. “Especially at this moment in our country’s history, it is imperative that heavy-handed government be restrained from trampling on our rights to personal expression as recognized and protected by the First Amendment.”
Kennedy’s cause has also won support from former National Football League players and former Vice President Mike Pence, according to a list of available briefs.
Pence’s organization, Advancing American Freedom, joined with 71 other organizations to author an amicus brief, which pointed out a history of prayer in public places.
“On September 11, 2001, the Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, House Minority Whip, House Minority Leader, and 13 Speaker of the House of Representatives lead a prayer on the steps of the U.S. Capitol,” the brief said.
The brief noted that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi “issued a press releasing stating that ‘Members of Congress join Americans in prayer for the lives lost or devastated by this vicious [corona]virus,’” in February.
It also said that faithful people cannot check their beliefs when they enter work. Rather, their beliefs permeate what they do every day, the brief said.
“Faith is pervasive; it is a central component of daily decisions and interactions,” the groups, including Young America’s Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom said, in its filing with Pence’s group. “It is a critical component of their personality and cannot be left at home or checked at the front door to the workplace.”