Advertise in this spot on CatholicCulture.org. View all ads.

Catholic World News News Feature

Court Declares NEA Decency Standard Unconstitutional November 06, 1996

SAN FRANCISCO (CWN) - A federal appeals court declared on Tuesday that the National Endowment for the Arts cannot enforce "general standards of decency" when deciding which projects to grant endowments.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said a statute that required the NEA to consider community standards of decency is unconstitutional in a lawsuit brought by four performance artists. The court's 2-to-1 ruling stated that the standards violated both the First and Fifth Amendments.

Judge James R. Browning wrote that the conditions were "void for vagueness" under the due process section of the Fifth Amendment because a reasonable person could not be expected to know with certainty what kind of art would be suitable under the NEA's standards. The judges also decided the standards violated artists' free speech under the First Amendment.

Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld dissented, contending NEA funding is a prize, not an entitlement. "First Amendment law has taken some odd turns lately. We now live in a legal context prohibiting display of a cross or a menorah on government property," he wrote, referring to two recent 9th Circuit cases. "But if a cross is immersed in urine, a government grant cannot be withheld on the ground that the art would offend general standards of decency and respect for the religious beliefs of most Americans."