America’s Founders, while they believed in liberty, were articulate in distinguishing liberty from licentiousness. As Abraham Lincoln would later put it, there can be no “right to do wrong.” We seek to defend that line against the pernicious doctrine that fostering morality is not a legitimate role for government. It was established at the Founding and has long been accepted that local and state-based majorities have every right to look after—often in the form of legislation—the health, safety, and morals of their communities.
CASE ARCHIVE:
Elk Grove v. Newdow (2003). CCJ, with former Attorney General Edwin Meese, III, challenged the view that the reference to "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, like the similar references to the "Creator" in the Declaration of Independence, is permissible only if they are of merely historical interest. CCJ argues that the public acknowledgement of God was viewed by the founders as an essential component of the civic virtue necessary to sustain free government.
Download the full CCJ brief here: Amicus Brief, Elk Grove Unified School District et al. v. Michael A. Newdow
