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(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.

“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.”