A federal judge has ruled against a Connecticut public school teacher who testified earlier this year at a hearing of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission after she was told she could not display a crucifix near her classroom desk.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Russell of the District of Connecticut, a Biden appointee, issued a memorandum and order on Monday rejecting Marisol Arroyo-Castro’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Arroyo-Castro filed suit against officials with the Consolidated School District of New Britain after she was barred from displaying the crucifix on a wall in the classroom last year.
Russell wrote that the crucifix that Arroyo-Castro wanted to display was not “protected speech” and that the teacher was “unlikely to prevail on the merits of her free speech and free exercise claims.”
“I conclude that Ms. Castro acted pursuant to her official duties when she posted items on the classroom wall that students would see during instructional time,” wrote Russell. “The classroom wall decorations are thus speech pursuant to Ms. Castro’s official duties and subject to the District’s control.”
Arroyo-Castro is represented by the First Liberty Institute, a conservative legal group based in Plano, Texas, and the law firm WilmerHale.
FLI Senior Counsel Keisha Russell said in a statement Monday that the district court order “flies in the face of clear Supreme Court precedent.”
“Requiring a teacher to purge their workspace of anything religious is blatant discrimination that violates the First Amendment,” she stated. “We will appeal and continue to fight for Marisol’s religious liberty rights.”
Arroyo-Castro has taught at DiLoreto Elementary & Middle School since 2008, where she decorated the space around her desk with various items, religious and secular.
Last fall, according to court documents, two students complained to a different teacher about the presence of a one-foot-tall crucifix that was on the wall near Arroyo-Castro’s classroom desk.
School officials asked Arroyo-Castro to remove the crucifix at a meeting last December. When she refused, the teacher was reprimanded, given a two-day suspension and then put on paid administrative leave.
Arroyo-Castro filed a lawsuit against school district officials in January.
In September, Arroyo-Castro spoke of her experiences at a hearing by President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
“My principal told me that we were to worship no idols,” she said. “He said that I should take the crucifix down to stay true to my Christian faith. That felt offensive to me as a Catholic. Still, I wanted to appease them and avoid more threats or conflicts. Therefore, I reluctantly [agreed] to move the cross.”
At the hearing, Arroyo-Castro recounted how, when she attempted to relocate the crucifix to a less visible location as requested by school officials, she “became aware of how much it actually weighed” and “how strong the wood was.” She said this reminded her of “the Scripture that says we should not hide our light under a bushel.”
