Marisol Arroyo-Castro has been a teacher in the New Britain, Connecticut public schools for over a decade. As a proud Catholic, Marisol always hung a crucifix near her desk, along with other items like family pictures and sports memorabilia. For 10 years, no one questioned or harassed Marisol about the crucifix. That all changed in 2024, when she was reassigned to teach a 7th grade class. Beginning in December of that year, New Britain school officials pressured Marisol to take down the crucifix, purportedly because they were worried that her display of the crucifix violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (it doesn’t). When Marisol protested and explained that other teachers were permitted to display any personal items of their choosing, the school principal accused Marisol of “idol” worship and told her she must remove the crucifix if she wanted to properly “live out her faith.”
When Marisol continued to refuse to remove the crucifix, she was issued a letter of reprimand, and then eventually suspended before being placed on administrative leave. Marisol sued the New Britain school district, and her case is now pending before the Second Circuit. On March 25, 2026, We The Patriots USA filed an amicus brief in support of Marisol, which you can read here.
Let’s get two things clear. First, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment only forbids the government from establishing a state-sponsored religion. If the school had mandated all teachers to display crucifixes and to recite Catholic prayers in class, that would clearly be an Establishment Clause violation. But allowing teachers to display personal items, including those that reflect their own personal religious beliefs, does not violate the Establishment Clause. There is no evidence here that Marisol ever tried to force her religious beliefs on her students.
But what the school did here clearly does violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. By denying Marisol the ability to live out her faith in the manner she sees fit, the school infringed on her ability to freely exercise her religion. School officials had no right to order Marisol to take down her crucifix, and certainly no right to tell her that she wasn’t properly practicing her faith. What they essentially did was tell Marisol, “Take that down, you’re doing it wrong.”
We will continue to fight for Marisol and others who suffer violations of their religious liberty at the hands of government officials who have no respect for the Constitution. This case could set an important precedent that would help other teachers all over the country, like the kindergarten teacher we continue to fight for in California, Mirella Ramirez. Mirella, also a Catholic, was fired simply because she refused to use male pronouns when referring to her five-year-old female student. You can read more about her story and support our lawsuit for Mirella here.
We thank you for standing with us in our fight to defend religious liberty!