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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (228)	9/5/2000 1:51:09 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 10042

freedomforum.org Court finds NEA can deny artists grants if their work is judged indecent WASHINGTON -- The government can deny cash grants to artists because their work is considered indecent, the Supreme Court ruled today in NEA v. Finley, saying the policy does not violate artists' free-speech rights. The 8-1 decision said the National Endowment for the Arts can consider decency, as well as artistic merit, in deciding who gets public money for the arts. The law "neither inherently interferes with First Amendment rights nor violates constitutional vagueness principles," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court. "So long as legislation does not infringe on other constitutionally protected rights, Congress has wide latitude to set spending priorities," she wrote. "Congress may selectively fund a program to encourage certain activities it believes to be in the public interest." Congress set the decency standard in 1990 after a furor over the NEA's role in funding such works as the homoerotic images of Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano's photograph of a crucifix immersed in urine. Lower courts struck down the law, saying it was too vague and violated artists' free-speech rights under the Constitution's First Amendment. The law requires the NEA to judge grant applications on artistic merit, "taking into consideration general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public." The law was challenged by a group of artists, including Karen Finley, who is known for a performance in which she smeared her nude body with chocolate to symbolize the oppression of women. A federal judge in California ruled the law unconstitutional, as did the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The law would let the government deny funding to artists because of their political or social message or because an artist is too controversial, the appeals court said. In asking the Supreme Court to reinstate the law, the Clinton administration argued that the government can use "highly selective" funding rules to decide which arts projects most deserve taxpayers' support. Justice Department lawyers noted the Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that the government could prohibit the use of federal money for abortion counseling -- a policy Clinton dropped shortly after he took office. The artists cited a 1995 high court decision that threw out a university's policy of denying funds to a student-run religious magazine while financing other student publications. That decision said the policy unlawfully discriminated on the basis of content. ******* Now you all can call me part of the moral majority if you want... However, I believe I have a right to be offended when public funds are going to pay someone to stick a cross in a glass of urine and call it "art". That's the problem here... if you give a Liberal an inch, they take a mile and try to offend everyone they possibly can in their mistaken quest to create "tolerance" for new ideas. Well, I say let them find private funding for their efforts. One of these days I'm sure some Jews or Muslims will appreciate it when I stick up for preventing the desecration of their holy symbols. Well,... my movie is just about over and it's been an interesting evening with you all hear... Thanks for keeping me entertained and making me clear the cobwebs out of the old cranium... We can always agree to disagree,... it's just nice to see people who can defend their beliefs... Great practice for real life. G'nite..