HEB Ministries, Inc. v. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (TX Sup. Ct., Aug. 31, 2007) involved a challenge under the U.S. and Texas Constitutions to the state's regulation of post-secondary religious seminaries. Fort Worth's Tyndale Theological Seminary sued after it was ordered by the Higher Education Coordinating Board to stop issuing degrees, to change its name, to offer refunds of students' tuition, and to pay a $173,000 fine. The school's violations stemmed from its calling itself a "seminary" and its awarding recognition to graduates us words like "degree", "associate", "bachelor", "master" and "doctor".
The 8 justices hearing the case produced 3 separate and lengthy opinions—concurring and dissenting in different portions of the major opinion written by Justice Hecht. This created shifting pluralities and majorities for different portions of the primary opinion. Justices variously discussed establishment clause and free speech challenges, as well as free exercise issues.
Six of the 8 justices who heard the case held, in an opinion by Justice Hecht, that the state is incapable of determining what is "genuine" religious study and what is not, so that the statutory restriction on the use of the name "seminary" by schools offering only religious studies violates state and federal free exercise guaranties. Justice Wainwright joined by Justice Johnson would have gone further and struck down the restriction without regard to whether the curriculum of the religious institution was primarily religious.
Three justices joined with Justice Hecht in holding that restrictions on the words that a religious institution may use to refer to completion of religious programs of study is so broad that it violates state and federal Free Exercise guarantees. Justices Wainwright and Johnson held that these restrictions do not violate Free Exercise provisions, but do violate First Amendment protection of commercial speech.
Justices Jefferson and Green in their separate opinion took the position that regulating the titles used to recognize graduates is a legitimate attempt to prevent a seminary from issuing a degree that misrepresents the nature of the education provided. The Dallas News reported today on the case.
