As I mentioned, Coach Kennedy's case is a great one for a seminar paper. And the story goes on.
Today is Coach's first game back after winning the right to pray after games. And he will be praying. But....
Here is some news published in an article today by The Free Press:
But the school hasn’t offered Kennedy a complete reset. While in the past, players on both sides voluntarily worshipped alongside the coach on the field, this year, the Bremerton School District has put in place a new policy mandating that all students must stay 25 feet away when he kneels to pray. No spectators will be allowed on the field either.
Kennedy is already agitating over the new rules.
“It’s like a bubble—they are trying to keep people away from prayer and me from everybody else,” he told me. “I am not abiding by that.”
Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice in Wonderland might say.
Does this new policy creating a no speech bubble around Coach Kennedy violate the free speech rights of students who wish to join him in prayer?
Does this targeting of Coach Kennedy's speech violate his free speech rights, because it treats him almost like a leper (he is not required to shout "unclean, unclean" but the school district does that for him) solely because of the content of his speech?
Imagine if Colin Kaepernick became a high school football coach and announced that he would take a knee at the 50-yard line after every game in support of Black Lives Matter. And suppose that the school district adopted a policy requiring students to stay 25 feet away from him when he kneels in support of BLM. What would be the reaction in the media to this no speech bubble around Kaepernick?
Here is a link to the article if you are interested.
And here is the trailer from Average Joe, the movie about Coach Kennedy that will be out soon:
