Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
Page Number: 12

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

7 

Opinion of the Court 

443 F. Supp. 3d, at 1231; App. 97.  Later, Mr. Kennedy re-
joined his players for a postgame talk, after they had fin-
ished  singing  the  school  fight  song.    443  F. Supp.  3d,  at 
1231; App. 103. 

C 
Shortly after the October 26 game, the District placed Mr.
Kennedy on paid administrative leave and prohibited him 
from  “participat[ing],  in  any  capacity,  in  . . .  football  pro-
gram activities.”  Ibid.  In a letter explaining the reasons
for  this  disciplinary  action,  the  superintendent  criticized 
Mr. Kennedy for engaging in “public and demonstrative re-
ligious conduct while still on duty as an assistant coach” by 
offering a prayer following the games on October 16, 23, and 
26.  Id., at 102.  The letter did not allege that Mr. Kennedy 
performed  these  prayers  with  students,  and  it  acknowl-
edged that his prayers took place while students were en-
gaged in unrelated postgame activities.  Id., at 103.  Addi-
tionally,  the  letter  faulted  Mr.  Kennedy  for  not  being
willing to pray behind closed doors.  Id., at 102. 

In an October 28 Q&A document provided to the public,
the  District  admitted  that  it  possessed  “no  evidence  that 
students have been directly coerced to pray with Kennedy.” 
Id., at 105.  The Q&A also acknowledged that Mr. Kennedy 
“ha[d]  complied”  with  the  District’s  instruction  to  refrain 
from  his  “prior  practices  of  leading  players  in  a  pre-game
prayer in the locker room or leading players in a post-game 
prayer immediately following games.”  Ibid.  But the Q&A 
asserted that the District could not allow Mr. Kennedy to 
“engage in a public religious display.”  Id., at 105, 107, 110. 
Otherwise, the District would “violat[e] the . . . Establish-
ment  Clause”  because  “reasonable  . . .  students  and  at-
tendees” might perceive the “district [as] endors[ing] . . . re-
ligion.”  Id., at 105. 

While Mr. Kennedy received “uniformly positive evalua-
tions” every other year of his coaching career, after the 2015