In another controversial ruling, the Supreme Court expanded the role of religion in public schools

Three days after burying the right to abortion in the United States, its six conservative judges, contrary to the opinion of their three progressive colleagues, ruled in favor of Joseph Kennedywho had supervised for seven years the teams of a high school in Bremertonnear the city of Seattle (northeast), before losing his job.

“A government entity wanted to punish an individual for a brief, quiet and personal religious practice,” the judge ruled. Neil Gorsuch. “The Constitution neither mandates nor condones this type of discrimination,” he wrote in his personal brief.

After each game, the coach knelt to say a prayer in the middle of the field, sometimes accompanied by some of his players. He sometimes said prayers in the locker room before or after games.

In 2015, the school authorities asked him to refrain, citing a section of the First Amendment of the Constitution that prohibits the State and its employees from encouraging the “establishment” of a religion, that is, financing or promoting its practice.

Since he refused, his contract was not renewed. He then took legal action, relying on another provision of the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of religion and expression.

These two provisions are regularly the subject of disputes, but the conservative majority of the Supreme Court, entrenched during the term of the Republican magnate donald trump (2017-2021), has tipped the balance in favor of religious circles.

In May, the court had ruled that the Boston City Council should allow a Christian group to display its flag at City Hall. Last week, he ruled that the state of Maine could not exclude denominational schools from a public aid plan.