Techno Fog, The Reactionary: A Big Win for Religious Liberty at the Supreme Court
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, rejected the school district’s argument that the suspension of Coach Kennedy “was essential to avoid a violation of the Establishment Clause,” stating “an Establishment Clause violation does not automatically follow whenever a public school or other government entity fails to censor private religious speech.” He further noted that “where there is no evidence anyone sought to persuade or force students to participate, and there is no formal school program accommodating the religious activity at issue.” This means that all religious references are not inherently coercive or otherwise an Establishment Clause violation: “[T]his Court has instructed that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by ‘reference to historical practices and understandings.’”
Liberal restrictions on free speech and the free exercise of religion so often rely on dishonesty.
The liberal Justices – Sotomayor, Breyer, and Kagan – dissented. The first sentence of Justice Sotomayor’s dissent started with an inaccurate description of Coach Kennedy’s actions: “This case is about whether a public school must permit a school official to kneel, bow his head, and say a prayer at the center of a school event.”
What Sotomayor gets wrong is that this case was never about praying “at the center of a school event.” Coach Kennedy prayed after the school event was over. Sloppy writing reveals sloppy thinking, and the dissent never recovers from this error.
Instead, Sotomayor only continues with the mistakes, alleging Coach Kennedy’s conduct caused “severe disruption to school events.” How can that be the case if the “school event” has concluded when the prayer takes place?
Read the rest here.
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