On The Front Lines
Federal Court Rules in Favor of High School Football Coach's Right to Bow Head, Bend Knee During Team's Pre-Game Prayer
Rutherford Institute Commends Court for Affirming Coach's Right to Participate in Team Prayers
NEWARK, N.J. - A federal judge has ruled in favor of East Brunswick High School football coach Marcus Borden's First Amendment right to silently bow his head and/or "take a knee" while his players say their pre-game prayer. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute had filed a friend of the court brief in support of Borden's right to demonstrate his respect during team prayers.
"This is a great ruling, which I hope will have national implications," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Every athletic department in the country is going to know about this case and, hopefully, every coach will want to emulate it. I think it's very important that we protect the rights of coaches, especially to be part of team activities."
The case arose after officials at East Brunswick High School passed a policy in October 2005 prohibiting representatives of the school district from participating in student-initiated prayer, effectively barring football coach Marcus Borden from bowing his head during team prayers. Borden, who also teaches Spanish and has held a post at East Brunswick High for 23 years, was ordered to stand still rather than bending a knee and bowing his head while his players recited pre-game prayers or face disciplinary action. The pre-game prayer has been a regular part of the football game since before Borden took over the team in 1983. School officials justified their actions by insisting that while student athletes have the constitutionally protected right to pray, that privilege does not extend to coaches, who are public employees and whose participation would violate the "separation of church and state." However, in response to a lawsuit filed by Borden against the school district in federal district court in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh declared that the school district violated Borden's constitutional rights to free speech, freedom of association and academic freedom when they prohibited him from silently bowing his head and "taking a knee" with his players while they engaged in student-initiated, student-led, nonsectarian pre-game prayers. In filing a brief in support of Borden, Rutherford Institute attorneys stated that "the District's attempt to forbid the small gestures of respect Borden desires to demonstrate to his football team is part of a trend nationally for school and other government officials to use the Establishment Clause as a justification for suppressing the liberty of individuals whenever matters of faith are involved."
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