On June 24, 2026, FFRF filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case Arroyo-Castro v. Gasper. This case is public school teacher Marisol Arroyo-Castro’s challenge to her school district for not allowing her to hang a crucifix in her classroom. The crucifix was placed in plain view of Arroyo-Castro’s students and among relevant classroom displays. This included, computer operation instructions, a student daily schedule, and a poster for a social studies textbook. When the district asked her to remove the crucifix from the classroom wall and move it to a location where it would not be visible to students, she refused. After they were unable to find a suitable accommodation regarding the placement of the crucifix, the district issued a letter of reprimand and then a two-day suspension. The district ultimately placed Arroyo-Castro on paid administrative leave due to her insistence upon leaving the crucifix in a visible location on her classroom wall.
The brief argues that the District Court was correct to apply the Supreme Court’s Garcetti Free Speech doctrine to Arroyo-Castro’s Free Exercise claim, finding that her display of the crucifix was speech pursuant to her official government duties and therefore not protected under the Constitution. FFRF emphasized that religious speech is speech just like any other. Applying Garcetti’s test to Arroyo-Castro’s Free Speech claim and her Free Exercise claim that would carve a religious privilege exception to the doctrine that violates the separation of state and church. FFRF warned the Court that siding with Arroyo-Castro in this case and allowing religious speech from teachers acting in their official capacity would set a dangerous precedent that would allow teachers and other government employees to push their own religious agenda at work without limit.
Legal Fellow Kyle Steinberg drafted FFRF’s brief and Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover served as Counsel of Record.
