Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is set to introduce a bill that would codify the right for students to pray in schools, building on a recent decision by the Supreme Court to allow people to pray in public on school grounds.
The National Prayer in School Act seeks to protect religious freedom by allowing students and faculty to pray in public “without fear of repercussion,” according to Gaetz. The Florida Republican announced his intent to file the bill during a speech at Turning Point Action’s 2023 Action Conference last month.
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“God’s reach does not stop at the schoolhouse gates. Our country’s education policy forbids students and faculty from praying while endlessly promoting degenerate LGBT and anti-White propaganda,” Gaetz said in a statement. “My legislation unlocks religious freedom once again so that in every classroom in America, there will be time for students to pray if they choose.”
The legislation comes one year after the Supreme Court sided with a high school football coach who was fired because of his postgame prayers at the 50-yard line. The court voted 6-3 in the coach’s favor, ruling his conduct was protected by the First Amendment.
The dispute began in 2015 after Joseph Kennedy was fired from the district, and the case initially reached the Supreme Court in 2019. However, justices at the time declined to consider it and ruled the case must be decided by the lower courts.
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After lower courts failed to rule in his favor, Kennedy once again requested the Supreme Court take up the case — which justices eventually agreed to in January 2022.
When school officials learned of Kennedy’s practice of postgame prayers, they sought to compromise with the longtime coach by offering him time before and after games to do so without drawing much attention. That offer stemmed from officials’ concerns that Kennedy’s actions as a head coach could make some nonreligious students feel pressured to join him and other students, which would violate the Constitution.