Issue Position: Preserving Religious Freedom

Issue Position

Under the leadership of Attorney General Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz repeatedly defended the right to free speech and religious expression, including in a landmark decision protecting the Texas Ten Commandments monument. That U.S. Supreme Court victory set a vitally important precedent for the right to display similar monuments across the nation. In addition, Cruz led the way on several cases that preserved the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and allows students to observe a moment of silence in schools. While Solicitor General, Texas had an unprecedented record defending religious freedom:

Successfully defended the constitutionality of the Texas Ten Commandments monument, winning in a 5-4 landmark decision before the U.S. Supreme Court, setting an important national precedent for the right to display similar monuments;

Authored a U.S. Supreme Court brief for all fifty States successfully defending the Pledge of Allegiance and preserving the words "under God";

Successfully defended the Texas schools' moment of silence law in federal district court;

Successfully defended the Texas Pledge of Allegiance in federal district court, preserving the words "under God";

Authored a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief for several states in support of Joshua Davey in Locke v. Davey, supporting Joshua's constitutional right not to be excluded from state scholarship funds simply because he chose to study theology from a devotional perspective;

Argued before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Staley v. Harris County, defending the constitutionality of a Houston courthouse monument that contained a Bible donated by the founder of the Star of Hope mission;

Authored an amicus brief on behalf of six states in Barnes-Wallace v. Boy Scouts of America, defending the Boy Scouts and urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit to reverse a district court ruling barring them from leasing a public park.

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