BREMERTON — Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy announced Oct. 14 that he will resume prayer at the 50-yard line after games.

Kennedy was expected to be accompanied to a press conference at Seattle Center by Hiram Sasser, deputy legal counsel for the Liberty Institute, a Texas-based non-profit devoted to religious freedom.

Kennedy was ordered by the Bremerton School District to stop offering a personal prayer after football games or face possible termination. At the press conference, Kennedy announced he planned to pray after the Bremerton High School homecoming game, vs. Centralia, on Oct. 16.

“He is going to pray on Friday night after the game,” said Kassie Dulin, director of legal communications for the Liberty Institute.

Kennedy began leading the post-game prayers with players at the 50-yard line in 2008. He did so until last month when someone told him he’d be fired if he continued. The story made national headlines, with cries of impingement of religious freedom.

The district responded Sept. 17 with a letter to Kennedy instructing him to cease the prayers.

“Talks with students may not include religious expression, including prayer,” Superintendent Aaron Leavell wrote in the letter. “They must remain entirely secular in nature, so as to avoid alienation of any team member and, importantly, violate the law and our board policy.”

The district based its decision on school board policy and several legal precedents.

The board’s policy on religious-related activities contains the following statement: “School staff shall neither encourage nor discourage a student from engaging in non-disruptive oral or silent prayer or any other form of devotional activity.”

The policy itself was implemented to comply with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, particularly “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The district also cited three federal courts cases pertaining to schools and athletics in its decision:

• Doe v. Duncanville Independent School District, which found that schools may not allow coaches to initiate, lead or supervise student prayer.

• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, which found that schools may not allow prayers to be read — even by students — over the public address system at even optional extracurricular events, such as football games.

• Borden v. School District of the Township of East Brunswick, which found schools may not allow coaches to participate in or appear to endorse religious activity that is entirely student-initiated.

In the letter, the district said allowing employees to violate the federal precedents could result in significant penalties.

In a subsequent letter to Leavell and the school board, the Liberty Institute requested religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from  discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.

They cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which “rejected the notion that public school employees relinquish First Amendment rights by virtue of their government employment.”

The institute argues that “the First Amendment forbids religious activity that is sponsored by the government but protects religious activity that is initiated by individuals acting privately, as is the case with Coach Kennedy.”

“The prayers are Coach Kennedy’s private religious speech, and no reasonable observer could conclude that BHS sponsors, endorses, or encourages student participation,” Sasser said.

Rep. Jesse Young (R-Gig Harbor) attended the announcement and has gone to each of Bremerton’s home games following the controversy.

“I know Joe’s heart in this. He’s not looking to poke somebody in the eye with this,” Young said. “He wants to be a mentor to the kids … but he also wants to have his rights protected.”

Leavell released a statement Oct. 14 acknowledging Kennedy’s intent to pray after the homecoming game. The district’s stance remains unchanged.

Leavell contends that the prayers are off-limits while on duty as a district employee.

“Because of mandatory federal law and school board policy, these talks with students may not include religious expression, including prayer,” Leavell said in the statement. “District coaching staff remain on duty following games and until players have changed out of their uniforms and have been released to their parents.”

Bremerton High School plays Centralia at Bremerton Memorial Stadium Oct. 18 at 7.pm.