The Morning Dispatch: SCOTUS Okays Coach’s Public Private Prayer

In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that Joe Kennedy's postgame prayers were protected by the 1st Amendment.

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Happy Wednesday! Our new favorite thing is large groups of teen boys across the country dressing up in suits to see Minions: The Rise of Gru in theaters, only to be kicked out for applauding too loudly during the opening credits. 

The kids are alright (and possibly the reason the children’s movie scored the biggest ever 4th-of-July opening weekend).

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • The 22-year-old man arrested in connection to Monday’s mass shooting at a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder on Tuesday after an additional victim succumbed to injuries suffered during the attack. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart told reporters “dozens more charges” will be filed against the alleged shooter, who police said fired more than 70 rounds into the assembled crowd before escaping the scene disguised in women’s clothing. Police were reportedly called to the alleged gunman’s home multiple times in recent years in response to violent threats and a suicide attempt—16 knives, a dagger, and a sword were confiscated from him in 2019—but the man legally purchased as many as five guns from licensed dealers in the Chicago area in 2020 and 2021.

  • Finland and Sweden were formally invited to join the NATO alliance on Tuesday as delegations from member countries gathered in Brussels to sign “accession protocols,” which must now be ratified by each countries’ national parliament in the coming months. In the meantime, Finland and Sweden are now able to participate in most NATO activities, other than nuclear planning sessions and certain intelligence briefings. The alliance’s mutual-defense pact also won’t apply to the Nordic countries until the membership process is completed.

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  1. Avatar photo
    W James Anderson

    Like usual , I can see both sides of the Coach’s case. As a Christian I like that the Coach won. As an American citizen I’m beginning to understand a little better the complexity of what it means to function in a liberal democracy. It’s impossible to agree with everyone but I can at least understand them. It’s good to be able to comment on these articles. I’m new to this platform and the ‘Tech’ world. Three plus years in on having a smartphone. Peace💀’s and🌈’s

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    Just James

    Matthew 6:5-7 "5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
    6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
    7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."

    Clearly, the "Christian" does not read his own book. I wonder how that little town would feel if he were some other religion and did something similar.

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    Julie from Texas

    I look at the Kennedy case less as a follower of SCOTUS and more as a Christian. Kennedy should have let it go and found somewhere else to pray. "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward" (Matthew 6:5).

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  4. Linda Murphy

    Yes, I think they have read the Constitution correctly along with Kennedy's actions. We need places amid society where actions of faith may be observed & respected. We are not a nation of blank slates, without a moral base. That base is fueled by belief & we need to have the freedom to express that belief.

    In a similar fashion, each of us carry a health belief model within us. We are allowed to choose which health practioner that fits our belief model. No one can force us to another practioner. We choose & respect our neighbors' choices. So too with our religious belief models.
    Our Constitution declares our freedom of choice & expression of those choices. The Justices were correct.

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    Michael Berkowitz

    Without taking a position on the QOTD, I'm curious what this case has to do with the Lemon test. The definition that I read mentions government "assistance" and "entanglement" and I'm trying to see how those apply here. Is the government assisting Coach Kennedy's prayer by paying his salary for the time that he's doing it? That would seem to be a No given that we're told teachers can say grace for themselves in the lunchroom while they're on the clock.

    Is it because the government built and maintains the stadium where it's happening? It also built and maintains the sidewalk outside.

    Is the problem not assistance but entanglement? Okay, how is 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 defined? Is it that the government can be understood as 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 a specific religious practice here? I assume that's it, and that the minority opinion is that, taken in a broader context, Kennedy's behavior 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be seen as promoting a specific religious practice.

    Pardon me if that was clear to everyone already -- sometimes I can't keep up with the reading.

    In any case, while I'm sympathetic -- based on the little I've heard -- to the minority view about the nature of Kennedy's actions, I'm wondering about the the extent of government involvement, which seems vanishingly small.

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  6. Avatar photo
    Citizen60

    What I think SCOTUS got right? The dissent. Gorsuch twisted the facts of the case to support his desired decision. And Sotomeyer called him out on it.

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  7. Jack(KY)

    I got to wear a suit to that movie before they banned them😎

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  8. Tom Palmer

    Spot on. He may have started this as a private reflection but when kids started joining in he encouraged it and even spoke about how he wanted to use these prayer sessions to lift up the kids. So he knowingly and deliberately mixed the two. He likes to show himself with knee on the ground and head down, but in reality he was holding a team helmet over his head as part of his on-field schtick (a coach holding up a team helmet at the 50-yard line immediately after a game isn’t much different from blowing a whistle to call a team meeting). Ruling was bs.

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  9. Tom Palmer

    So true. Count me in.

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  10. Mary Stine

    I personally have always detested public prayers, especially those by sanctimonious long winded adults. Jesus himself admonished his followers not to pray in public, but to pray in private, alone.
    However, I have empathy for the beleagured coach. Coaching is often hell, even under the best of circumstances, mostly due to demanding ungrateful parents and the usual bad luck
    It's hard to blame any coach for wanting to invoke a higher power.
    However, my doubts about this decision are these:
    If public prayer is protected, what's to stop a coach from setting up a voodoo altar under the goal posts and praying there? Would devout Christians have to be okay with that?
    If public prayer is protected is private prayer also protected? If so, does this imply that employers and schools will be obligated to provide a private area, possibly with room for prayer rugs,etc?
    If the right to pray openly in public is protected, is the right to NOT pray and instead offer secular meditation (like some types of yoga) also protected?
    It seems to me that Justice Gorsuch has arrogantly opened a can of worms.

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