The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a petition from a Seattle-area high school football coach who was fired for refusing to stop leading prayers on the field after games. Former Bremerton High School Coach Joe Kennedy, after his firing, had filed a First Amendment suit against his former school district -- with the issue being whether public employees retain free speech rights when at work and “in the general presence of” students. OPINION: COURT RULES HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH CANNOT PRAY ON THE FIELDBut while conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas said they are interested in his case and the legal issues it raises, they agreed that the court is right to reject the appeal for the time being. Lower courts had said that Kennedy was not immediately entitled to get his job back, rejecting his claim that the school district violated his free speech rights by putting him on paid leave after he continued to pray. SUPREME COURT LETS PENTAGON LIMIT TRANSGENDER MILITARY SERVICE WHILE LAWSUITS PROCEEDKennedy disagreed with that court finding when he spoke on Fox News in 2017: "That was never an issue, if the kids wanted to come up they did, if they didn't, if they didn't.

Source: Fox News January 22, 2019 17:26 UTC