-fish- said:
He was still coaching, so it was before his suspension. He was suspended for praying with players after he was told not to. Gorsuch wrongly stated that he never did that.
I don't see what's so hard to understand here.
Also, Gorsuch said the photo only showed members of the opposite team. I don't know if he was looking at a black and white photo, but the one in the link clearly shows members of both teams.
I'm going by the dissents description of the events.
Picture of Kennedy holding up the helmet and praying with his team (Ex. 7).
September 11, 2015: "While the District’s inquiry was pending, its athletic director attended BHS’ September 11, 2015, football game and told Kennedy that he should not be conducting prayers with players. After the game, while the athletic director watched, Kennedy led a prayer out loud, holding up a player’s helmet as the players kneeled around him. While riding the bus home with the team, Kennedy posted on Facebook that he thought he might have just been fired for praying."
September 17, 2015: The District’s superintendent sent Kennedy a letter informing him that leading prayers with students on the field and in the locker room would likely be found to violate the Establishment Clause, exposing the District to legal liability...The District instructed Kennedy that any motivational talks to students must remain secular, “so as to avoid alienation of any team member.”
No date given (assume circa September 24, 2015): Kennedy stopped participating in locker room prayers and, after a game the following day, gave a secular speech. He returned to pray in the stadium alone after his duties were over and everyone had left the stadium, to which the District had no objection
October 16, 2015: After playing of the game had concluded, Kennedy shook hands with the opposing team, and as advertised, knelt to pray while most BHS players were singing the school’s fight song. He quickly was joined by coaches and players from the opposing team. (Sotomayor attached a photo of this).
October 23, 2015: District sent Kennedy another letter on October 23, explaining that his conduct at the October 16 game was inconsistent with the District’s requirements. During the October 23...games, Kennedy again prayed at the 50- yard line immediately following the game, while postgame activities were still ongoing
October 26, 2015: Kennedy prayed surrounded by members of the public, including state representatives who attended the game to support Kennedy. The BHS players, after singing the fight song, joined Kennedy at midfield after he stood up from praying.
October 28, 2015: The District notified Kennedy that it was placing him on paid administrative leave for violating its directives at the October 16, October 23, and October 26 games by kneeling on the field and praying immediately following the games before rejoining the players for postgame talks.
As you can see from the facts laid out by Sotomayor in the dissent, he was suspended for the prayers he did on October 16, 23, and 26. Not for any prayers with his team. Those prayers stopped once the District advised him to on September 17, 2015 the he could not do them as the District thought it would be an EC violation. The prayers at issue in this case are the ones in October.
EDIT: Just wanted to make sure that the majority only looked at the October 2015 prayers. In the syllabus, "The contested exercise here does not involve leading prayers with the team; the District disciplined Mr. Kennedy only for his decision to persist in praying quietly without his students after three games in October 2015." So yeah, even the facts as laid out by Sotomayor indicate that the incidents in question did not involve players from his own team.
