WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Monday, October 23

By Ellena Erskine
on Oct 23, 2023 at 10:34 am

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• ‘Average Joe’: Coach Kennedy releases book about Supreme Court victory, his life and childhood (Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)

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Recommended Citation: Ellena Erskine, The morning read for Monday, October 23, SCOTUSblog (Oct. 23, 2023, 10:34 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/10/the-morning-read-for-monday-october-23/

CP AUTOBIOGRAPHY | MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2023

‘Average Joe’: Coach Kennedy releases book about Supreme Court victory, his life and childhood

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Twitter https://twitter.com/MichaelGryboski

The Washington state high school football coach at the center of a major United States Supreme Court decision on Christian prayer at public schools will soon be releasing a book about his life and the high-profile case.

Joe Kennedy, the former football coach at Bremerton High School who initially lost his job because of his practice of praying at the 50-yard-line following games, has written a book titled Average Joe, which is slated for release on Oct. 24.

In it, Kennedy describes the behind-the-scenes experiences he had over the course of eight years, from when he filed his lawsuit against the school district until the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last year that school officials were wrong to punish him.

"Kennedy prayed during a period when school employees were free to speak with a friend, call for a reservation at a restaurant, check email, or attend to other personal matters. He offered his prayers quietly while his students were otherwise occupied. Still, the Bremerton School District disciplined him anyway," wrote Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch for the majority.

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