dd thing. we have a second amendment. the constitution is different from whatever moral principles you want to air out. with this gun case we just saw, what comes next for the second minute aces? -- second amendment cases? guest: i do not clear to be a -- i do not declare to be a second amendment cases. to decide whether someone should get a concealed carry permit violated the constitution. there are five or six other jurisdictions that have similar systems but three or so that do not convert that discretion. there is the state of vermont that does not even require a license for carrying a firearm.

i am not sure what questions will come next but i doubt very much that this ruling is going to be dramatic in its impact. host: ed whelan is a senior fellow for the ethics and public policy center. we always appreciate your time. >> coming up at the top of the hour, health and human services secretary javier becerra will be briefing reporters. you can see that when it gets underway on c-span. the january 6 committee holds their neck tearing later today and will present recently obtained evidence. testimony from a former top aide to the trump white house chief of staff mark meadows. live coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. watch on the free video app or

online at c-span.org. you can start calling in now. we are talking in the first hour this morning about the case yesterday, kennedy versus the barberton school district kennedy versus the barberton school district. here is how one person put it yesterday. the supreme court ruled that the football coach was discriminated against. justice neil gorsuch wrote the majority opinion saying that the haskell assistant coach's prayers are protected by the constitution's given to free speech and religious exercise. he said the school board discipline of kennedy was unwarranted, even under the concern of violating the separation of church and state. in that majority opinion, here are some of justice neil

gorsuch's words from the case. respect for religious expression, he said, is indispensable. the life in a free and diverse republic where those exceptions take place weather in a cemetery or on a field and whether they manifest through the spoken word or a head. to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, private religious experience doubly protected by the free exercise and free exercise and free-speech causes of the first amendment. the government offered for its reprisals a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out religious disturbances. the constitution he said neither mandates nor tolerates the kind of discrimination. that was the majority opinion yesterday. the response from coach kennedy and his lawyers from the first liberty institute to represent the case.

that released a video after the decision was handed down yesterday. >> just got the big news from the u.s. supreme court that you one, man. you won. [laughter] >> yeah, i got nothing. >> i have known you for years. this is the first time i have ever seen you speechless. >> i wish i had something to say, but just like our football games come every time we scored or won a game, that was it. >> you said just a second ago that this is not really happening. i don't mean to pick on you, but you lost and you lost and you lost and you lost and you lost, but then -- >> did you do five? >> i think i left one out. [laughter] >> but all that matters is the final scoring today. you won. congratulations. >> thank you. >> with us as an attorney that has been with you since the beginning, the night he got fired. tell us what you see in that opinion today, just headlines. >> well, it is an amazing

decision to win on the clause, the free-speech caused, to get the court to say we don't have to go back down and do a bunch of fact-finding again or whatever. we have done all that. we just get some re-judgment entered. that is a big deal. the goal has been to get coach back on the field. it looks like a pretty good football season coming up. i think this is the ultimate thing we have to get accomplished for the rest of the case, getting back on the field in september. >> to be clear so people understand, the only thing that we ever asked for was for you to be able to get back on that field, right? >> that was it. now it is like i have always done, just be able to enjoy the freedoms of america. now everyone else can. a cool thing. host: coach kennedy there in the wake of that ruling yesterday. here is one of the takes from

the millennial focused new site mike.com. their headline in the wake of that decision, the supreme court has a clear agenda. christian theocracy across more than one ruling this term. the conservative justices have prioritized christian exception above all else. we are asking you this morning your thoughts on the role of religion in public life in america. if you think it is too much -- do you think it is too much, not enough, or about right? the phone lines for all of those answers, the numbers are on the screen. we have a call from rhode island. carl things it is not enough. why? caller: hi. i am calling. it is not enough because if you take a look, i am over 70 years old, and how this country has evolved. when i was growing up, everything was easy, free, and kind. now we have two polar opposites

that are extreme and there is virtually no possibility of compromise. what worries me is what the next step is going to be. i won't be around to see it. it is very possible, people believe it, that we are headed to a second civil war. host: do you think there is a place for compromise on the separation of church and state for those who feel like religion is having too much influence on public life and those who think it is not enough? caller: it has always been the view. that is why prayer hasn't gone anywhere except for that breakthrough decision yesterday by those catholics on the united states supreme court. you know, it is funny. you look every time, a lot of people don't know that the

jewish people support abortion. a lot of people don't know that, but they know it now. very sad. very, very sad. that is why those two justices, they vote for killing the unborn. very sad. host: stephen in lexington, kentucky, saying religion has too much influence on public life. where do you see it, stephen? caller: yes, good morning. yes. john, i am a big fan of you. love when you moderate. yes. religion has way too much power in the united states, especially commercial christianity. the amount of churches out there that do not get taxed but put all of their oppression on the american public is outrageous. they dictate the way we live our lives.

they dictate what we should do with ourselves, what we can do with ourselves. in general, way too much power. and it is ridiculous because a lot of us are not like that. there are actually a lot people that are not religious around this country and want to see it flourish, but religion is holding it down. and it has way too much power and influence in the way we live our lives. host: with the group, americans united of separation of church and state, have you heard of their worked? caller: no, but it sound like i should find out what they do. what do they do? host: a group that has some of these very concerns you have talked about and have been closely watching this case. this is the statement that group and ever yesterday in the wake of the kennedy decision, saying this decision represents the greatest loss of religious freedom in our country in generations. the court focused only on the demands of far right christian extremists, robbing everyone

else of their religious freedoms. it ignored the religious freedom of students and families as a network of religious extremists and their allies celebrate the victory. expanding this dangerous precedent. americans that value freedom and equality especially for public school students must rededicate themselves to reestablishing the separation of church and state across the united states. that is in the group americans united for the separation of church and state if you want to check them out. that is the website on the screen. this is daniel out of washington, spokane. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. i believe that america is in decline and has been for quite some time, ever since we started to extract ourselves from the beliefs of the scriptures.

in the scriptures, it says blessed is a nation whose lord is god, whose god is the lord. and cursed is the nation who rejects him. we are in a lot of trouble. the decline of this country is obvious to all of those who have a perceptive ability -- a perceptive ability. so i am grateful for the supreme court in all of their decisions. and i am hopeful this nation will turn again back to the god who created us and who loves us and forgives us of our sins. host: daniel, do you think we will be seeing a lot more prayer in public schools in the wake of this decision? caller: i hope so.

these schools are one of the biggest areas that have gone into decline. we are 37th in the world now. it is not sustainable for our economy and for our country to be that far down the

respect for religious -- whether the manifest or the spoken word. that line of the ruling getting quoted quite a bit in the wake of it being handed down yesterday. this is fran in wisconsin. good morning. caller: good morning. one of the things i wanted to say, you said in the statement with the separation of church and state. our founding fathers knew there

was a reason for separation of church and state and until the event -- evangelicals realized that there was poor political power, that is when they started doing that. there is a place for religion. in your home and at church. not in politics or being shoved down everyone else's throat. we have freedom of religion and people have a right to their own belief. what happened in the supreme court is one of the consequences of having religion shot down people's throats in a democracy. host: having a coach kneel after a game or pray silently, is that shoving religion down people's throats? this was the heart of this case. it was the reading of the first amendment. caller: yes.

there is a place for religion. there is a place for religious beliefs. you can go to church. you can send your kids to church schools. that's ok. but don't be shoving it down people's throats. everyone has a right to their own belief. what is happening in this country is one of the consequences of having religion shoved down other people's throats. i think it is disgusting that people cannot keep their religious beliefs to themselves. it is one of those personal individual choices and should remain that way. host: the heart of this case surrounding whether this idea, this act of praying on the 50 yard line, whether it was establishing a religion or moving in that direction or exercising the free expression of religion. it is centered around those first three sections of the first amendment, "congress shall

make no law respecting the establishment of a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech." the justices deciding on the free exercise and freedom of speech on those sections of the first amendment when they made their ruling. 6-3, led by the conservative majority. asking you this morning about the role of religion in public life. do you think it is too much, not enough, or just right? caller: good morning. schools have found a pretty decent balance. they do a moment of silence before the pledge of allegiance. that makes it more personal. that is where i disagree with the supreme court decision just because you have the moment of silence before the pledge of

allegiance but is different than a teacher leading the class in prayer which is what the coach did. just to piggyback on the other callers, i agree religion is important. , but with their opinion change if the coach rolled out a prayer rug and did a muslim type prayer? it seems like christian conservatives just look at one side of prayer and it sets a precedent. where will this go from here? host: here is some background on how this developed into a supreme court case in one of the final five rulings of this very important term. this is from the wall street journal. students occasionally joined mr. kennedy's devotions after the game and this is going back to 2015.

the coach said he never directed them to do so by the school's principal testified in cases that his son felt compelled to participate. students took part in the rituals because he felt he would not get to play as much if he did not participate in those prayers. >> i have to agree with that. as a kid playing sports i would feel obligated if the coach is praying, i don't know. i think it is different as a teacher or a coach or a leader to do that. i noticed after the game but is on the 50 yard line. i've seen the pictures. there are players around him. you could choose to go back into the locker room and do it. i do not know. it seems more orchestrated instead of a simple moment of silence or being by himself. he can do it in his office if he

wanted to. i think it would be different if he was muslim, i just have a feeling or sick -- gorsuch might roll a little differently. i could be wrong on that. host: coach kennedy placed on administrative leave in 2015 from that job at a public school near seattle. the san francisco-based u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit ruled just last year that kennedy was asking is a public employee when he offered the prayers and so his actions were not protected by the first amendment. the high yesterday rejecting that argument. trish in seattle, good morning. had you heard about this case being out there in seattle? had you heard about this before yesterday being in washington? caller: oh yes. i get the seattle paper every day. could not visit.

-- could not miss it. we had a discussion about it yesterday. that was the start of our day and we were both crushed. we both grew up going to catholic schools. we both know longer believe in that. i just wonder, like the gentleman said before, if that was it islam prayer on the field or if it was another religion, if it was witchcraft, whatever, how would that stand? it would not, because we have six justices that think their white christian way is the only way that can be done. i have no further faith in the supreme court. i will never again stand up for the pledge of allegiance and i will never again stand up when they sing the national anthem because i think this country has

gone back so far that it wants to be england or something and i do not know if that is a great show. everything the supreme court has done and will try to do, and trust me they will has eroded all of the democracy we have worked so hard all of these years for those people that died for this country. host: do you have kids in public schools? caller: no. my nieces and my nephews were public-school. my other nephews were raised in schools and i think -- if you want to pray, that is personal, you do that on your time. do not make a bunch of kids do

that. you do not know how they were raised. that is a huge assumption for some coach, some two bit coach -- host: he argued he did not make any kids do this. caller: with that being said, how many people stand up for the national anthem but they do not feel like it because they do not believe what is going on in this country? for the first time i felt like i did not want to stand up. many times, even when i was in the high school, i thought it was a bunch of hooey. you have to. it was coercion. the first time ever i felt like i had the power that i did not have to stand up.

i am not believing in what this country is doing, and it was liberating. this country is going down the hill. you want white religious people running the show, that is what you got. it is a sad story. host: that is trish in washington. duncan in florida is next on the line for those who say religion does not have enough influence on this country. why? caller: thank you. i am a roman catholic and i'm on my way to a catholic mass this morning. as a catholic i know religion that too little influence and is

protected by the first amendment. that woman who was just on before me, her and most other people are too naive for the situation. host: you said you went to mass this morning. was there any mention about this case or the other supreme court case we have been talking so much about, the roe v. wade? caller: i have not gone to mass yet. i wish to go. host: did you go sunday? did they mention anything about the abortion case? caller: i am strictly against abortion, gas. i think it is homicide, yes. host: this is david out of san francisco. caller: i kind of appreciate the previous woman's call, although

i would urge her not to abandon america. it is a clear case of merchants in the temple and it could be merchants in the church temple or merchants in the temple of justice. either way the coach got an agent and part of the people who funded the cashing in were people like the coke brothers who wanted to throw away america for their company store economy. i was going to call on this theme that tax policy is being changed by these church phonies because they want us to spend our taxes on unprovable budgets. i want my budget, whether it is roads, bridges, freshwater, clean-air, safety. hundreds of different budget

items are being threatened by some phonies who come across with a holier than thou attitude , but it is ok to poison the rivers because god and the angels will clean it up. i want tax dollars to be spent with provable budgets. looking at how much money got spent by that school district to pay for this coaches and his agents phony case. >> the secretary will speak and then he will take questions. we ask you to turn off your cell phones, to state your name and media outlet when you have a question, and then the secretary may also turn to our general counsel at hhs for the department at large. if you have questions or you need hel