There is a profound failing in the approach to law of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority. They do not much care about the facts of the cases before them, choosing instead to base their decisions on pure ideology.

The predictable results include the endorsement of religious coercion in public schools and ethnic profiling by federal agents.

In 2022, in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of a fired high school football coach who, according to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion, had done nothing more than engage in a “short, private, personal prayer” on the 50-yard line after games.

Gorsuch’s description made it seem that overzealous school administrators had violated the coach’s First Amendment right to free exercise of his religion. The facts, easily found in the trial court record, were far different.

The district never objected to the coach’s private devotions. In reality, he led numerous students in public prayer, including opposing coaches and members of opposing teams.

Some students felt pressured into joining the prayer circle. One, an atheist, believed he “wouldn’t get to play as much” if he didn’t participate. Another “did not feel comfortable declining to join with the other players in Mr. Kennedy’s prayers.”

© The Hill