- Court: United States Supreme Court
- Area(s) of Law: First Amendment
- Date Filed: June 27, 2022
- Case #: 21–418
- Judge(s)/Court Below: GORSUCH, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS, ALITO, and BARRETT, JJ., joined, and in which KAVANAUGH, J., joined, except as to Part III–B. THOMAS, J., and ALITO, J., filed concurring opinions. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BREYER and KAGAN, JJ., joined.
- Full Text Opinion
Petitioner, a football coach, would take “30 seconds” to pray silently alone on the midfield line after games, was released from employment. Petitioner alleged Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Exercise violations against Respondent. The District Court found for Respondent, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. After being granted cert, the Court held that the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment do not permit the government to censor an individual engaging in personal religious observances. The lower courts relied on an “abstract and ahistorical approach” to the Establishment Clause. The three clauses - Establishment, Free Expression, and Free Speech - should treated as “complementary,” not hierarchically. See Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing, 330 U. S. 1 (1947). Petitioner’s conduct does not offend the Establishment clause when properly evaluated against “history” and “the understanding of the Founding Fathers.” Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 577 (2014). Petitioner cannot be said to have coerced participation amongst the students he coached, nor can it be construed as speaking on behalf of the government. Requiring, or allowing, schools to quash all personal religious observance while in the workplace would run counter to “[r]espect for religious expressions . . . indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic.” VACATED AND REMANDED.