PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff-appellants appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Harold Baer, District Judge), which granted dismissal of their claims under the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ("RFRA"). Appellants are eleven individuals who self-identify as atheists and secular humanists and who include numismatics, a teacher, parents and their minor children, and others who state that they have been harmed by the placement of "In God We Trust" on currency, as well as two organizations, the New York City Atheists and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. They challenge two statutory provisions, 31 U.S.C. §§ 5112(d)(1) and 5114(b), which require that the country's motto, "In God We Trust," be placed on all coinage and paper currency. On May 8, 2013, defendants, including the United States, Richard A. Peterson, Deputy Director of the United States Mint, Larry R. Felix, Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of the Treasury,
We have never addressed the question of whether the inclusion of the words "In God We Trust" on United States currency violates the Constitution or RFRA and write today to clarify the law on this issue. Four other circuit courts have ruled on this question, however, and have found that the statutes at issue do not contravene the Constitution. See Kidd v. Obama, 387 Fed.Appx. 2 (D.C.Cir.2010) (per curiam) (affirming the district court and holding that the printing of the motto on currency does not violate the First Amendment); Gaylor v. United States, 74 F.3d 214, 216 (10th Cir.1996) (holding that the
We review the district court's grant of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) de novo. See, e.g., Chase Grp. Alliance LLC v. City of New York Dept. of Fin., 620 F.3d 146, 150 (2d Cir.2010).
The First Amendment of the Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." In Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971), the Supreme Court held that, in order to comply with the Establishment Clause: "First, the statute [at issue] must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances or inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion." Id. at 612-13, 91 S.Ct. 2105 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Although the Supreme Court has, in some cases, criticized or declined to apply Lemon, see, e.g., Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 685, 125 S.Ct. 2854, 162 L.Ed.2d 607 (2005), we have previously held that Lemon remains the prevailing test in this Circuit, absent its abrogation. See Bronx Household of Faith v. Bd. of Educ. of City of New York, 650 F.3d 30, 40 n. 9 (2d Cir.2011).
In addition to their Establishment Clause argument, appellants also contend that 31 U.S.C. §§ 5112(d)(1) and 5114(b) violate the Free Exercise Clause and RFRA. Pursuant to the Free Exercise Clause, the government may not "prohibit[] the free exercise" of religion. U.S. Const. amend. I. In 1990, the Supreme Court clarified its Free Exercise Clause jurisprudence by holding that the government need not have a compelling interest in order to enact generally applicable laws that happen to burden religious practice. Emp't Div., Dep't of Human Res. of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 882-90, 110 S.Ct. 1595, 108 L.Ed.2d 876 (1990). In response, Congress enacted RFRA, which provides in relevant part that the "Government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person" "is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest" and "is the least restrictive means necessary of furthering
Appellants argue that they are substantially burdened by the necessity of using currency because doing so requires them "to bear on their persons ... a statement that attributes to them personally a perceived falsehood that is the antithesis of the central tenant of their religious system." (App.Br.25.) Appellants also contend that using money forces them to proselytize. (App.Br.26.) We respectfully disagree that appellants have identified a substantial burden upon their religious practices or beliefs.
"[A] substantial burden exists where the state `put[s] substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs.'" Jolly v. Coughlin, 76 F.3d 468, 477 (2d Cir.1996) (quoting Thomas v. Review Bd. of the Ind. Emp't Sec. Div., 450 U.S. 707, 718, 101 S.Ct. 1425, 67 L.Ed.2d 624 (1981)); see also Westchester Day Sch. v. Village of Mamaroneck, 504 F.3d 338, 348 (2d Cir.2007) ("Supreme Court precedents teach that a substantial burden on religious exercise exists when an individual is required to `choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting benefits, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion ... on the other hand.'" (quoting Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 404, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1963))). Appellants face no such stark choice between a basic benefit and a core belief. As the Supreme Court has previously indicated, the carrying of currency, which is fungible and not publicly displayed, does not implicate concerns that its bearer will be forced to proclaim a viewpoint contrary to his own. In Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 97 S.Ct. 1428, 51 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977), the Court held that New Hampshire's compulsory "Live Free or Die" license plates violated the First Amendment rights of plaintiffs, who were Jehovah's Witnesses, but noted that it did not view the ruling as one that would apply to the country's currency: "currency, which is passed from hand to hand, differs in significant respects from an automobile, which is readily associated with its operator. Currency is generally carried in a purse or pocket and need not be displayed to the public. The bearer of currency is thus not required to publicly advertise the national motto." Id. at 717 n. 15, 97 S.Ct. 1428. For substantially the same reasons, we find that appellants' system of beliefs is
We have considered appellants' other arguments and find them to be without merit. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court's judgment dismissing the case.