Vickee Byrum is an interior designer, but, remarkably, the State of Texas insists that she keep that fact a secret. 

While anyone in Texas may legally provide interior design services, state law dictates that only those with government-issued licenses may call themselves “interior designers” or use the words “interior design” to describe what they do.

On May 9, 2007, the Institute for Justice, a national public interest law firm that defends free speech and the rights of entrepreneurs, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin on behalf of Vickee and three other entrepreneurs challenging Texas’ “titling” law as a violation of free speech rights protected by the First Amendment.

The Texas Board of Architecture and Interior Design put up a spirited but ultimately futile defense.  Shortly after the Fifth Circuit ruled, in April 2009, that we were entitled to a preliminary injunction suspending enforcement of the interior design law, the state amended the statute to cure the constitutional defect by allowing anyone who performs interior design work in Texas to use the terms "interior design" and "interior designer" to advertise their services.