AG Derek Schmidt statement on U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding religious speech rights of public employees
KANSAS, June 27 - TOPEKA – (June 27, 2022) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued the following statement in relation to today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Joseph A. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District:
“Today’s decision confirms what many of us long have long understood: The U.S. Constitution protects personal religious expression, and that protection is not shed merely because a person of faith is employed by the government in a public role. As the Court concluded, ‘Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic—whether those expressions take place in a sanctuary or on a field, and whether they manifest through the spoken word or a bowed head.’ I’m proud Kansas stood on the right side in this historic case rejecting government discrimination against people because of their free expression of religious faith.”
A copy of today’s decision is available at https://bit.ly/3ynY6Re. A copy of the brief Schmidt filed in support of the petitioner is available at https://bit.ly/3nlgWSU.