The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1472537
In allowing coach to pray, Supreme Court says First Amendment doesn't contradict itself The First Amendment to the Constitution has two connected clauses on religion, one prohibiting an "establishment of religion" and the other protecting the "free exer- cise thereof." The case of Kennedy v. Bremer- ton School District involved a high school football coach, Joe Kennedy, who routinely kneeled midfield af- ter games to of fer a private prayer of thanks, saying he was engaging in the free exercise of his religion. His school district in Washington state fired Kennedy for doing so, claiming that allowing such a reli- gious display would amount to an establishment of religion. In Kennedy v. Bremer ton School District, the Supreme Cour t tried to untie this knot by r uling Monday that the school district violated the coach's constitutional rights. Since being hired in 2008, Kenne- dy had knelt on the field after each game to briefly express gratitude for what his players had accom- plished and for the oppor tunity to be par t of their lives. When players asked to join him, Kennedy agreed but never pressured or encouraged them to do so. Kennedy also continued a prac- tice, begun before his hiring, of pregame or postgame prayer in the locker room for students and coaching staf f. In September 2015, the school district warned Kennedy about making "religious references" in the presence of students at midfield and during the locker room prayer tradition. The school district claimed a "direct tension" between the First Amendment's two religion clauses required an employee's right to ex- ercise his religion to "yield so far as necessar y to avoid school endorse- ment of religious activities." The district also claimed that if anyone saw Kennedy kneeling, by himself and in silence, they might assume that the district en- dorsed whatever he was doing. That risk was enough to prohib- it him from doing so, the district said, even when, as happened one time, "ever yone had left the stadium." The school district said it would allow Kennedy such a solitar y silent prayer only if he was "not obser vable to students or the public." Attempting to comply, Kennedy ended the tradition of locker room prayers and avoided any religious references when players joined him at midfield. He drew the line, however, at his solitar y, silent, brief prayer after a game. After his dismissal, Kennedy sued, claiming that the school dis- trict had violated his First Amend- ment rights to exercise his religion and to speak freely. The lower cour ts sided with the school district. The U.S. Cour t of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said that anything Kennedy said on the field, at a time when he could have been talking to students, amounted to "speech as a government employ- ee." Allowing any religious speech, even silently, would constitute an establishment of religion, the ap- peals cour t said. In the opinion released Monday, the Supreme Cour t voted 6-3 to re- verse the 9th Circuit. Justice Neil Gorsuch's majority opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Rob- er ts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, and (except for one section) Brett Kavanaugh. The school district's policy was hardly neutral or "generally appli- cable," the high cour t said, because it targeted only religious expres- sion, a conclusion that the school district con- ceded. Under the Supreme Cour t's previous de- cisions, therefore, the school district had to show that its policy was "narrowly tailored" to ser ve a "compelling" government interest, the toughest standard the high cour t applies. The school dis- trict failed to meet this standard, violating Kennedy's right to freely exercise religion. As to free speech, the cour t asked whether Kennedy of fered his silent prayers "in his capacity as a private citizen, or did they amount to gov- ernment speech attributable to the District?" Unlike some of the cour t's pre- vious cases, Kennedy's prayer was not "commissioned or created" by the government, or anything that the coach would be expected to say "in the course of carr ying out his job." When Kennedy knelt for his si- lent prayer, others were free to engage in all manner of private speech. Kennedy was simply not acting within the scope of his em- ployment and, therefore, his prayer was private rather than govern- ment speech. The Supreme Cour t rejected the idea that the school district could avoid violating the establishment clause only by violating Kenne- dy's right under the free exercise clause. The First Amendment's free Biden is the economy's supply chain problem Joe Biden has become Ameri- ca's "it's not my fault" president. Whether it's the inflation, the border, the crime, the gas prices, the Afghanistan exit fiasco or the stock market collapse, Biden has become an exper t at pointing the finger at someone else. His presidency so far reminds me of the famous campaign slogan of then-New York Mayor David Dinkins, who admitted that ever y- thing was going wrong in the Big Apple on his watch and confessed, "I'm doing the best I can." New Yorkers believed him. And they wisely tossed him out of of fice for Rudy Giuliani, who actually fixed things. Take the supply chain crisis. Biden constantly blames shor tag- es, empty shelves and back orders of ever ything from cars to tam- pons to baby formula on "supply chain" disr uptions. For example, if you tr y to buy a new car these days, you will probably have to wait for weeks or even months to pull into your driveway. Or you will have to pay $5,000 to $20,000 above the sticker price to get a car immediately. I don't recall having these sup- ply problems when Donald Tr ump was president. Do you? One of the most remarkable business innovations of the last 40 years has been "just-in-time inven- tor y" management. It is a logisti- cal triumph of the economy that cut prices and ensured full shelves at the grocer y store and Walmar t. Then digital age companies such as FedEx, UPS and Amazon reli- ably deliver merchan- dise to your door. Why is it just now that we are confront- ed with the goblins of supply chain disr up- tions? Biden says it is because we had the economy shut down, and then Tr ump left him with an economy in miserable shape. According to this nar rative, Biden had to "build back better" and solve bottlenecks with cargo ships, airlines, warehouses and factories. But that's not even close to the tr uth. The economy soared out of the COVID shutdowns that had paralyzed the economy in early 2020. In the second half of 2020, the economy snapped back with a rapid rebound. These were the last six months of the Tr ump pres- idency. There were few shor tages or delays (except when companies couldn't get workers back because of sky-high welfare and unemploy- ment benefits). Prices were sta- ble in the first six months of the COVID recover y. When Tr ump left of fice, inflation was 1.5%, even though the economy grew by about 20% in the six months before Tr ump left of fice. But then, when Biden took over, right from the get-go, here, there and ever ywhere "supply chain" problems emerged. Why? First, Biden declared war on the American fossil fuel industr y, so it began to contract output. Pric- es soared. Then he ap- pointed regulators who made anti-business cli- mate change r ules that disr upted commerce flows. And finally, he ap- pointed people to key positions in his adminis- tration who were woefully unqual- ified for the task at hand. Kamala Har ris, his vice president, was in charge of securing the border, and this was like a monographed invitation to illegal immigrants to come on over. Next, Pete Buttigieg was put in charge of transpor tation. He seems like a ver y nice man, but he went on pater nity leave amid the cargo shipping crisis and took no practical steps to alleviate the jam up at the por ts. With airlines canceling thou- sands of flights and leaving pas- sengers stranded in strange cities, Mayor Pete is flunking again. Peo- ple in the airline industr y are star t- ing to call the transpor tation sec- retar y "Pass the Buck Buttigieg." As aviation analyst Gar y Lef f of Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg OPINION Court restores culture of life The cries from the left predict- ing the end of the world in the wake of the Supreme Cour t's deci- sion to over tur n Roe v. Wade is a familiar sound. We heard the same after the historic reform in wel- fare in 1996 when Aid to Families with Dependent Children, which ef fectively subsidized low-income women to have children out of mar riage, was replaced with Tem- porar y Assistance for Needy Fami- lies – which introduced the idea of workfare. The reform, the left screamed, would throw low-income women mercilessly to the streets. But the re- sult was quite the opposite. We had a dramatic decrease in welfare cases and increase in work among low-in- come women. Human beings respond to incen- tives and to the realities around them. When those incentives inspire responsibility, productivity and cre- ativity, this is what we get. When in- centives inspire irresponsibility and dependence, this is what we get. What we call morality, the morality rooted in biblical truths that still in- fluence and guide large parts of the American population and that ser ved as a guide to many more in our past, provides the rules and framework that sustain life and living. Ever yone who knows me knows how I celebrate this court decision that overturns that decision in 1973 that opened the door to the destruc- tion of 60 million-plus pregnancies. That decision introduced a culture of death to our nation. When I say a culture of death, I don't only mean the widespread physical destruction of infants in the womb, which is what the decision brought about. A culture of death means introduc- tion of behaviors that threaten the future of our communities, of our nation. When we lose appreciation for the sanctity of life, along with this we lose the sense of sanctity of be- havior that brings life to the world. Marriage and sex become no lon- ger responsible expressions of love and creation but expressions of egoism and self-gratification of the moment. Sadly, and predictably, following the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, we saw collapse of the institution of marriage and of childbearing. The fertility rate in the United States to- day is at a historic low and well below the rate necessar y for the population to replace itself. This is what I call a culture of death. An aging nation, where the number of souls departing exceeds the number of new souls be- ing brought forth, is not a nation with a future. Par ticularly troubling is the dispropor tionate extent to which the culture of death has rooted it- self in Black communities. About one-third of the nation's abor tions are per formed on Black women. In 1960, the percentage of Black adults and white adults, age 25 and above, who had never been mar- ried was almost identical – around 10%. By 2012, among whites this in- creased to 16%, but among Blacks to 36%. Black poverty is largely centered in Black households headed by sin- gle women. Sadly, the Congressional Black Caucus wants to perpetuate the culture of death. They decr y the court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But the Supreme Cour t decision to over tur n Roe v. Wade is not a ban on abor tion. It is a rejection of the bogus decision that claimed the U.S. Constitution grants abor- tion rights. Those on the left, who regularly express their concer ns about our democracy, now have things the way they want it. The future of abor tion lies in democ- racy. Each state will decide if they want a culture of death. My predic- tion is Americans will choose life. And Black Americans will choose life. The result will be a rebir th of the American family, children and future. Yes, I am rejoicing that so many will be called "Mom" this time next year and am praying that God will shower their of fspring with a double por tion of His bless- ings. There is great reason today to cel- ebrate in America. Star Parker is president of the Cen- ter for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." Pro-choice versus pro-life Now abortion law is up to states. Some will ban it, while most blue states will allow it in some form. Because libertarians want govern- ment out of our lives, people assume we are pro-choice. Some of us are. But like the rest of America, there are principled libertarians on both sides. We freedom-lovers believe wom- en (and men) own their bodies and should have control over what hap- pens to them. But we also believe that one of the few legitimate roles for government is stopping murder. If a fetus is a life, abortion is legally murder. "Life begins from the moment conception is complete," says Kerr y Baldwin, host of the "Dare to Think" Podcast. "Abortion is murder." "The termination of a pregnancy is the right of any woman," counters pro-choice Avens O'Brien of Femi- nists for Liberty. I say to O'Brien, "That is a form of life in the womb. You're not bothered terminating that?" "I'm not sure I agree that it's a per- son with rights," she responds. "At what point does the baby have a right to be protected by the state?" I continue. "You're saying that one minute before birth, the baby does not, and one minute after, it does?" "Individuals have rights," she responds. "Individuals don't exist inside other people." Baldwin count- ers, "Passing through the birth canal doesn't change the humanity of the fetus." "As long as a fetus is inside a person, the person gets to determine whatever's happening to it," answers O'Brien. Baldwin says the only time abor- tion should be legal is if a woman's life is in danger. Rape is not justifi- cation. Rape, she says, is "a crime against women. They need restitu- tion for that crime," but the woman must carr y the baby to term. Baldwin is libertarian, so she usu- ally opposes government force. I point out that abortion bans are gov- ernment force. "It is the role of civil governance to criminalize acts of violence," she replies. I wonder how such criminal- ization would work. "If abortion is illegal," I point out, "the state either has to punish the woman or doctor or both." "This is a woman who's in crisis," says Baldwin. "It doesn't make sense to ... throw her in prison." Before Roe v. Wade, prosecuting women was rare. Sometimes doctors were prosecuted. "The way you enforce is not through a police state," says Bald- win. "The way to get women to stop choosing abortion is to provide other options." One such option, she says, is to make adoption easier. Easier adoption would be good, but it certainly won't persuade all women to carr y babies to term. Watching this week's abortion pro- tests, one thing puzzles me: Why do activists always turn to politics? Celebrities like Lady Gaga and Ri- hanna attacked Alabama's abortion bill. "Governor ... SHAME ON YOU," said Rihanna. Instead of shouting at politicians, activists could put their money where their mouths are. I say to Baldwin and O'Brien, "Lady Gaga and Rihanna by themselves have enough money to fly every wom- an ... to a state where it's legal. Why is this a government issue?" "It would be great if celebrities spent their money on mutual aid and direct action instead of lobbying poli- ticians," says O'Brien. "Currently there is a meme going around," she adds. "People write, 'If anyone needs to go camping because their state does not allow camping... come camping with me. We'll never talk about your camping.'" Why "camping" instead of "abortion"? Because in "certain states, that would create a legal problem," ex- plains O'Brien. The two sides will never agree about abortion. Personally, I think it's reasonable when states ban late-term abortion. An 8-month-old fetus sure seems like life to me. But I'm mostly pro-choice. Peo- ple should own their own bodies. If someone lives inside you, you have a right to control that life. John Stossel is creator of Stossel TV and author of "Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." Race for the Cure By Star Parker Give Me a Break John Stossel Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore C-2 Wednesday, July 6, 2022 The Press-Dispatch Heritage Viewpoint By Thomas Jipping See COURT on page 3 See SUPPLY on page 3