High School Coach Sues Claiming Right To Pray With Team

In October, East Brunswick New Jersey High School football coach Marcus Borden resigned after being told he could no longer lead the team in prayer before football games. (See prior posting.) However, he has now changed his mind. A week after resigning, he rescinded his resignation and hired a lawyer. According to the Associated Press, on Nov. 21 he filed suit in state court claiming his constitutional rights are being violated. The Home News Tribune reported in detail on the complaint in the case which alleges interference with Borden's expression, association and privacy rights. Responding to the school's Establishment Clause concerns, Borden's lawyer, Ronald J. Riccio, said, "We think that no person, especially in the context of this case, could reasonably understand that if Coach Borden bowed his head and 'took a knee' that this would constitute government endorsing or coercing religion." A column in today's Woodbridge, NJ Sentinel summarizes Borden's position: "if players ... initiate a nonsectarian prayer before a game and [Borden] bows his head, or takes a knee to pray with them, he is not forcing religion on anyone, he is only freely exercising his own constitutionally protected right to pray and speak to his own god. "