FRC Joins Amicus Brief in SCOTUS Case Seeking to Hold Cisco Systems Accountable for Aiding CCP

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last Thursday, Family Research Council (FRC) joined other individuals and organizations on an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I. The case will be heard on April 28, 2026.

The case centers around the U.S.-based Cisco Systems corporation's aiding and abetting in building the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s massive surveillance state that has helped to repress the religious rights of countless groups, including Christians, Uyghur Muslims, the Falun Gong, and others.

The amicus brief argues in part:

"The case pending before this Court is thus part of a broader set of cases brought under the [Alien Tort Statute] and the [Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991] that have provided victims of religiously based persecution--Muslims, Catholic clergy and parishioners, Christian churches, and Falun Gong practitioners--with critical tools to redress torture, unlawful killings, and other grievous harms committed on the basis of their religious exercise or beliefs. Without these tools--and without the ability to invoke accomplice liability to reach all those responsible for religious persecution--victims would often be left without refuge. ... This judgment of the court of appeals should be affirmed."

Bob Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid, who also serves as FRC's Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom, also joined the amicus brief. He commented:

"Religious persecution in China is not only carried out by the state--it is too often enabled by technology and silence. This case is about whether victims of persecution can seek justice when companies knowingly help build the tools of repression. The Supreme Court now has an opportunity to affirm that those who profit from persecution cannot escape accountability."

Travis Weber, an attorney and FRC's Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs, commented on the brief:

"What happens when the religiously persecuted around the world no longer have any nation or government to advocate for them? What happens when the powerless are without someone in power to speak for them? These questions highlight the crucial importance of preserving the legal remedies at issue here for the persecuted to seek relief. Not only the Falun Gong, as in this case, but those of all faiths globally (including those wishing to convert to another faith) must have a voice and a way to defend their human rights. A ruling for those challenging Cisco and the CCP here is a ruling for all the downtrodden around the world who are persecuted for what they believe and would preserve the light of justice to keep on shining in an increasingly dark world."

The amicus brief can be found here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-856/402963/20260326152835918_Cisco%20v.%20Doe%20amicus%20brief%20-%20religious%20freedom_3-26-2026_FINAL%20for%20filing.pdf

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