246: SCOTUS and the free exercise of religion

P&C drink and review “Bed of Nails” brown ale by Hi-Wire Brewing, then discuss recent decisions on the free exercise of religion.

Two important cases came down this term: Kennedy v. Bremerton involved the coach who prayed on the 50-yard line, while Carson v. Makin had to do with a restriction on public money being used to support a religious school.

Kennedy was a football coach at a government school in Washington. As a government employee, did his prayers constitute “the government” endorsing religion? Or, as a private citizen, did he have the right to free speech and free exercise?

In Maine, the government decided to give parents money to send their children to secondary schools but forbade them from using that money in a religious school. The court held that was straightforward discrimination on the basis of religion.

The boys discuss these cases and the broader question of government entanglement in religion.