The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June 2022 that a Washington state school district violated football coach Joseph Kennedy's rights when it fired him for kneeling in prayer at midfield after games. The decision abandoned the Lemon test—the 50-year-old standard for Establishment Clause cases—and replaced it with analysis based on "original meaning and history."
The 1st Amendment's Establishment Clause stops government from establishing, endorsing, or favoring any religion. For decades, the Lemon test from Lemon v. Kurtzman required that government actions have a secular purpose, neither advance nor inhibit religion, and avoid excessive government entanglement with religion. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District tossed that framework, calling it "abstract" and "ahistorical." Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion said the Establishment Clause doesn't let schools suppress individual religious expression. Justice Sotomayor dissented with photos showing students joining Kennedy's prayers, arguing the majority "misconstrues the facts" and ignores precedent barring school officials from leading prayer.