Opinion ID: 4198317
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The setting, context, and history support the

Text: perception that Kennedy’s conduct would be viewed as state endorsement of religion. The setting supports this conclusion. If Kennedy’s practice were to resume, an objective student would observe a public-school employee in BHS-logoed attire demonstratively praying in front of “a large audience assembled as part of a regularly scheduled, school-sponsored function conducted on school property.” Id. at 307. Based 42 KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST. on previous experience, Kennedy’s players would likely join him, meaning he would likely be surrounded by a majority of the team. The speech would also occur at the most prominent location on the field during a time when Kennedy is responsible for supervising players. Lastly, the scene would likely exhibit “the traditional indicia of school sporting events,” including “cheerleaders and band members dressed in uniforms,” an audience “waving signs displaying the school name,” and the school’s name or initials “written in large print across the field and on banners and flags.” Id. at 308. The context would bolster the perception that the District was endorsing religion. An objective observer would know that Kennedy had access to the field only by virtue of his position as a coach, that a Satanist group had been denied such access, and that Kennedy insists on demonstratively praying only while in view of students and spectators. True, in contrast to Santa Fe, the District would not be authorizing or regulating the content of Kennedy’s prayers. See 530 U.S. at 306‒07. Still, an objective observer would know that it is Kennedy’s professional duty to communicate demonstratively to students and spectators after games, and that use of the field, like use of the public address system, is “subject to the control of school officials.” Id. at 307. The relevant history would add to the perception that the District encourages prayer. An objective observer would know that during the previous eight years, Kennedy led and participated in locker-room prayers, regularly prayed on the fifty-yard line, and eventually led a larger spiritual exercise at midfield after each game. BSD states that it was not aware of this conduct until 2015, but if Kennedy were to resume his practice of praying at midfield, an objective student could reasonably infer that the District was ratifying the religious KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST. 43 exercises that Kennedy had previously conducted. This inference would follow because the District would be acquiescing to Kennedy’s conduct knowing full well that the players prayed only when Kennedy elected to do so, and that the previous practice started as an individual prayer but evolved into an orchestrated session of faith. 2 Lastly, by permitting Kennedy’s conduct, the District would be condoning the same coercion identified in Santa Fe. As was true in that case, various students would be required to attend the games, “such as cheerleaders, members of the band, and, of course, the team members themselves.” Id. at 311. They would see an important District representative display “the distinctively Christian prayer form” 3 in the most prominent location on the field, 2 Again, perhaps bolstering this inference, an objective observer would likely see Kennedy surrounded by his players. An objective observer familiar with the relevant history would also know that the football team had engaged in pre- and post-game prayers “as a matter of school tradition,” and that both activities apparently “predated” Kennedy’s involvement with the football program. With that context, an objective observer might reasonably perceive that the District had changed its mind regarding the propriety of Kennedy’s conduct. This is particularly so because BSD had previously stated in a letter to the Bremerton community that it could not permit Kennedy’s conduct lest it be considered to be endorsing religion. 3 Amici note that Kennedy employed “the distinctively Christian prayer form of kneeling with hands clasped and head bowed—a pose with deep historical significance and symbolic meaning within Christianity.” Br. of Americans United for Separation of Church and State et al. as Amici Curiae Supporting Appellee at 12. By contrast, Jews “do not typically kneel,” and instead “stand for prayer and often sway.” Id. at 13. For Muslims, “the typical prayer posture is prostration, though prayer also involves standing and bowing.” Id. Prayer in the Bahá’í faith “involves kneeling, bowing, and prostration.” Id. Hindus and Buddhists “pray in the seated, cross-legged lotus position.” Id. Finally, it is worth 44 KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST. despite the community’s religious diversity. This act would “send[] the ancillary message to members of the audience who are nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.” Id. at 309‒10 (internal quotation marks omitted). Kennedy might not “intentionally involve students in his on-duty religious activities,” (emphasis added), but I have no reason to believe that the pressure emanating from his position of authority would dissipate. Accordingly, many students would feel pressure to join Kennedy’s religious activity to avoid marking themselves as outsiders or alienating themselves from the team. The record suggests that this is precisely what occurred when Kennedy first started praying on the field in 2008. See Kennedy Decl. at 3 (“Over time, the number of players who gathered near me after the game grew to include the majority of the team.”). Yet the Constitution forbids Kennedy from forcing students whose beliefs are not the same as his to compromise their personal beliefs or identify themselves as religious dissenters. In sum, if Kennedy were to resume kneeling and praying on the fifty-yard line immediately after games while in view of students and spectators, an objective student observer would see an influential supervisor do something no ordinary citizen could do—perform a Christian religious act on secured school property while surrounded by players— simply because he is a coach. Irrespective of the District’s views on that matter, a reasonable observer would conclude in light of the history and context surrounding Kennedy’s noting that the Bremerton community includes individuals who identify as atheist or as agnostic. Id. at 14. KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST. 45 conduct that the District, “in actuality,” favors religion, and prefers Christianity in particular. 4 Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 308. B. Kennedy’s counterarguments are not persuasive. Kennedy contends that an objective observer would “conclude (at most) that he is engaged in a personal moment of silence” because students would not be directly coerced to pray, the District would not be regulating the content of his religious expression, and the prayer would not be the product of a school policy, in contrast to the prayer at issue in Santa Fe. These observations may be correct, but they have little significance when considered within the totality of the circumstances. Indeed, they are rebutted by the evidence of indirect coercion, and the fact that an objective observer familiar with the context would know it is Kennedy’s professional duty to communicate demonstratively to students and spectators after games. Next, Kennedy insists that kneeling and praying on the fifty-yard line would not be viewed as state endorsement of religion because a coach’s expressive conduct around a playing field is quintessential personal speech. Kennedy notes that some athletes point to the heavens after a 4 Borden v. Sch. Dist. of Tp. of E. Brunswick, 523 F.3d 153 (3rd Cir. 2008), supports this conclusion. There, the Third Circuit held that a football coach impermissibly endorsed religion by bowing his head and taking a knee while his players engaged in prayer. Id. at 174. Like Kennedy, the coach had a history of leading team prayers, yet stated that he wanted to bow and kneel only to show respect to his team. Id. at 177. The court concluded that the history gave rise “to a reasonable inference that [the coach’s] requested conduct is meant to preserve a popular statesponsored religious practice of praying with his team.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). In light of Kennedy’s history, an objective observer could draw the same inference here, notwithstanding Kennedy’s statement that he seeks only to pray silently and alone. 46 KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST. touchdown, or kneel when a player is being treated for an injury, yet fans do not generally view either of those actions as having been made on behalf of the team. Even if that is true, it says little about the speech at issue here, and it ignores entirely the relevant history and context surrounding Kennedy’s speech. See Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 315 (holding courts may not “turn a blind eye to the context in which [the conduct] arose”). Lastly, Kennedy contends that the remedy for any inference of endorsement “is to educate the audience rather than squelch the speaker.” Hills v. Scottsdale Unified Sch. Dist. No. 48, 329 F.3d 1044, 1055 (9th Cir. 2003) (quoting Hedges v. Wauconda Cmty. Unit Sch. Dist. No. 118, 9 F.3d 1295, 1299‒1300 (7th Cir. 1993)). However, we have held that a disclaimer is not sufficient to alleviate Establishment Clause concerns in the graduation speech context, Lassonde v. Pleasanton Unified Sch. Dist., 320 F.3d 979, 984 (9th Cir. 2003), and it is similarly unlikely that a disclaimer would cure the perception of endorsement at issue here. Once again, an objective student observer would still see a respected District employee do something no ordinary citizen could do—perform a distinctively Christian religious act on a secured portion of school property while supervising students—simply because he is a BHS football coach. Moreover, because Kennedy’s speech would occur in the course of his ordinary responsibilities and he would be speaking in his capacity as a public employee, his conduct would be attributed to the District, thus diluting the effect of any potential disclaimer. See Borden, 523 F.3d at 177 n.20 (“As an employee of the School District as both a coach and tenured teacher, Borden’s actions can be imputed to the School District. For this reason, Borden’s claim that the School District could remove any Establishment Clause violation by writing a disclaimer saying that Borden’s KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST. 47 speech does not represent the ideals of the School District is simply wrong.”); Doe v. Duncanville Ind. Sch. Dist., 70 F.3d 402, 406 (5th Cir. 1995) (stating that during schoolsponsored sporting events coaches “are present as representatives of the school and their actions are representative of [school district] policies”). 5 In sum, the District can satisfy the fourth Eng factor. It justifiably restricted Kennedy’s speech to avoid violating the Establishment Clause. An objective BHS student familiar with the relevant history and context would perceive Kennedy’s conduct to reflect school endorsement of religion, encouragement of prayer, and a preference for one particular faith. 6 5 I nonetheless emphasize that schools should not simply “throw up their hands because of the possible misconceptions about endorsement of religion.” Hills, 329 F.3d at 1055. Instead, they should endeavor “to teach [students] about the first amendment, about the difference between private and public action, [and] about why we tolerate divergent views,” as BSD’s letter to the Bremerton community admirably sought to do here. Id. (first alteration in original) (quoting Hedges, 9 F.3d at 1299). “Free speech, free exercise, and the ban on establishment are quite compatible when the government remains neutral and educates the public about the reasons.” Id. (quoting Hedges, 9 F.3d at 1300). However, in this instance, BSD would not be remaining neutral in the eyes of an objective observer if it were to permit Kennedy to resume his on-field prayers. 6 The District also contends that Kennedy’s conduct fails the socalled “coercion” test and the three-prong framework from Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). I do not address those arguments in light of the analysis outlined above. 48 KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCH. DIST.