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66 Tex. L. Rev. 1455 (1987-1988)
Academic Freedom and the Free Exercise of Religion

handle is hein.journals/tlr66 and id is 1489 raw text is: Academic Freedom and the Free Exercise of Religion Douglas Laycock* and Susan E. Waelbroeck** I. Introduction Father Curran believes that the Roman Catholic Church should grant academic freedom to its theology professors.' He argues that aca- demic freedom is good for both the Church and its universities.2 The academic freedom he proposes for theologians appears to be considerably less than what most academics claim for themselves, but considerably more than the Church now allows. His essay and his personal dispute with the Church raise several distinct questions. The first is whether more academic freedom would be good for the Church. On this question our opinions are similar to his, though he has failed to formulate a neat solution to this hard problem. The second question is who should decide whether academic free- dom would be good for the Church. On this question he is largely silent. But his lawsuit3 and his passing reference to the Constitution4 imply a belief that either secular law or secular courts can control Church policy in this area. We fundamentally reject any such implication. The teach- ing and professing of theology are at the core of the free exercise of reli- gion; the Constitution absolutely bars the government from interfering in doctrinal disputes at religious universities. It is hard to imagine a ques- tion less appropriate for the secular courts than whether Curran should teach theology at the Catholic University of America. Only Catholics should decide what is good for Catholicism. Recognizing this concern, Curran raises a third issue, saying that he seeks only to enforce the civil contracts of the university as a civil corpo- ration.5 Of course the Church could enter into an enforceable contract * Alice McKean Young Regents Chair in Law, The University of Texas School of Law. B.A. 1970, Michigan State University; J.D. 1973, The University of Chicago. ** Associate, Clark, Thomas, Winters & Newton, Austin, Texas. B.A. 1985, J.D. 1988, The University of Texas at Austin. 1. Curran, Academic Freedom and Catholic Universities, 66 TEXAS L. REV. 1441, 1454 (1988). 2. See id. at 1449-54. 3. Curran v. Catholic Univ. of Am., Civ. No. 1562-87 (D.C. Super. Ct. filed Feb. 27, 1987). 4. Curran, supra note 1, at 1453 & n.66. 5. Oral remarks at Symposium on Academic Freedom; see Plaintiff's Complaint at 37-50, 1455