God & Football after Bremerton
An interview with Prof. Sarah Barringer Gorden
In the religious freedom case, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022), the Supreme Court weighed in on the role of God in football in American public schools. Professor Sarah Barringer Gordon (UPenn Law) explains the case, its impact on the First Amendment's Establishment Clause separating church and state, and the unusual history of religion and football at the Supreme Court.
In Bremerton, the Court decided whether a public school football coach named Joseph Kennedy violated the Establishment Clause by prominently praying at midfield after games. The Court found in favor of the coach and determined that his actions were protected by the Free Speech and Free Exercise protections of the First Amendment. Finally, Prof. Gordon explains the historical ebb and flow of Establishment Clause power and lays out the Court’s new test for evaluating potential violations of church and state after Kennedy v Bremerton.
Additional Resources
KENNEDY v. BREMERTON
CASES DISCUSSED
- Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971): Statutes that provide state funding for non-public, non-secular schools violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court established its three-part “Lemon Test” in this case.
- Carson v. Makin (2022): The Supreme Court ruled that Maine’s requirement that school tuition assistance payments only be used towards secular schools violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
- Shurtleff v. Boston (2022): The Supreme Court ruled that the city government’s flag raising program does not constitute government speech, so the city was wrong in denying an application to raise a “Christian flag.”
- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969): The Supreme Court ruled that the wearing of armbands—in the form of protest—by students in public schools could not be prohibited, as First Amendment rights are not lost once a student steps onto school grounds.
- Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000): The Supreme Court ruled that student-led prayer prior at football games violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
- Locke v. Davey (2004): The Supreme Court ruled that Washington state could exclude non-secular majors with its scholarships without violating the Free Exercise clause.
- Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia Inc. v. Comer (2017): The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional under the free exercise clause to exclude churches from an otherwise neutral secular aid program.
- Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014): The Supreme Court ruled that Christian prayer before a legislative meeting was not a violation of the Establishment Clause.
LAWS DISCUSSED
1st Amendment - “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
RELATED PAGES
The Lemon Test Explained – Prof. Sarah Gordon explains the three-part Lemon Test and whether it has been overturned by the Kennedy v. Bremerton case.
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About Prof. Sarah Barringer Gorden
“In the United States, we don’t actually have a definition of 'religion' for legal purposes.”
Sarah ("Sally") Gordon is a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Prof Gordon is particularly known for her work on religion in American public life and the law of church and state. She is a frequent commentator in news media on the constitutional law of religion and debates about religious freedom. Her op-eds have appeared in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and other news outlets. She has appeared on NPR, the Daily Show, as well as podcasts and lecture podiums around the country. Her articles have been published in numerous law journals and her published books including, The Spirit of the Law: Religious Voices and the Constitution in Modern America (Harvard)
