Robert Morris, Gateway Church lawsuit being appealed to Texas Supreme Court after dismissal

A legal battle making its way to the Texas Supreme Court is asking justices to consider whether freedom of religion protects churches from lawsuits filed by survivors of sexual assault.

"Today, I'm humbly asking the Texas Supreme Court to hear this case, not only for me, but for every survivor who deserves the opportunity to be heard," said Cindy Clemishire during a Thursday press conference.

Clemishire filed a petition this week asking the court to revisit an appeals court order that would toss out her case against Gateway Church in Southlake.

"Protecting religious liberty is important. Protecting child rapists is not," said state representative Jeff Leach, one of the attorneys representing her.

Two years ago, Clemishire first publicly shared how the megachurch's founder, Robert Morris, had molested her while visiting her home in Oklahoma as a traveling pastor, starting in 1982 when she was 12 years old.   

Gateway Church responded to her account with statements, she said, that downplayed her abuse and encouraged personal attacks on her.

"The hateful messages and phone calls I received from many Gateway members, as well as followers of Robert Morris, left me feeling threatened and concerned for my safety," she said.

In June of 2025, Clemishire filed a $1 million defamation suit in Dallas County alleging Morris, his wife, Debbie, along with former and current elders, knew about Robert Morris' abuse and made millions of dollars from his "moral failures and rape of plaintiff, Cindy Clemishire."

"For more than 4 decades, I have lived with the consequences of what Robert Morris did to me and what happened when powerful people chose to protect him instead of the child he abused," said Clemishire.

On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court issued a stay in the case, with a response ordered by Oct. 19, 2026. A writ of mamdanus remains pending before the court.

Appeals court decision

In August, the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas ordered the case be dismissed, saying secular courts cannot intervene in church governance. The decision cited what's known as the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which "prohibits civil courts from delving into matters of theological controversy, church discipline, ecclesiastical government, or the conformity of members of the church to the standard of morals required of them."

"This case is not about telling a church what to believe. This case is not about telling a church how to govern itself," countered Rep Leach.

He argues that the appellate court's decision creates what he calls "an extraordinary double standard in Texas law" that shields church leaders in a way that leaders of other secular institutions could not be.

"Texas should be the last place in America where a child sexual abuse survivor is told that the courthouse doors are closed because the people she is trying to hold accountable happened to lead a church," Leach said in a statement. "Religious liberty is one of our most fundamental freedoms. But religious liberty cannot mean religious immunity. Protecting a predator is not theology, and defaming his victim is not church doctrine."

Clemishire said her efforts to hold Morris and the church accountable over the last two years have come with "a lot of pain" and "exhaustion."  During Thursday's press conference, she grew visibly emotional as she described her motivation.

"I… I stand here for every past victim who was silenced," she said, her voice breaking. "I refuse to accept a legal precedent that could send another survivor the same message: stay silent."

Clemishire said she worries about the precedent set by the appellate court's decision.

"This is about really, in my opinion, a giving a religious organization and its leadership complete protection from harming people and that's obviously not what churches are intended to do," she told CBS News Texas.

Church declines comment

In a statement after the appellate court ruling, Gateway attorney Ron Breaux wrote in part, "This decision strongly reaffirms that principle of church autonomy and makes clear that it protects every church, regardless of how it chooses to organize and govern itself."

Gateway Church said it would have no comment on the latest legal filing.

Bill Mateja, an attorney for Robert and Debbie Morris, said in a statement, "It's important not to forget what this lawsuit actually is and isn't about. Robert and Gateway took ownership of what happened in the 1980s and apologized in good faith. Turning that apology into an argument for defamation liability cheapens what an apology is supposed to mean—and it's hard to see this as anything other than an attempt to convert accountability into a big payday."

"Finally, Ms. Clemishire's lawyer says religious liberty cannot mean religious immunity. Fair point—and it's not what's happening here. Two courts have now agreed that Gateway's affairs were inherently ecclesiastical and beyond the court's jurisdiction. That's not a loophole. That's the Constitution working as intended, and we're confident the Texas Supreme Court will see it the same way,"  Mateja said.

Representative Leach took issue with the characterization of his client's motives.

"That someone like Robert Morris, through his attorney, would accuse his victim of wanting a payday is beyond the pale. There are no words to describe my sadness and my anger at that, at that position that they're taking," he said.

Clemishire disputed the claim Morris had ever apologized, saying he has never addressed her directly, and denied being motivated by money.

"If somebody wants to say something about me trying to collect a big paycheck, I think that's where we probably need to flip it and look at the megachurches and see what they're trying to do. Where's their money going? What are they doing with the big paycheck they've cashed in on?" she said.

Robert Morris pleaded guilty in October 2025 in Osage County, Oklahoma, to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. He was sentenced to six months in jail and was released earlier this year to serve the rest of his sentence on probation. He has had to register as a sex offender.  

Federal fraud suit dismissed

In July, a federal judge dismissed a fraud lawsuit brought by a group of former Gateway Church members, who accused the church and the Morrises of mishandling millions of dollars in church donations, or tithes.  

The group has since filed an appeal of the judge's decision. There's been no word on the status of their case.