WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (LSN) - The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a 1990 law that imposed decency standards on funding decisions by the National Endowment for the Arts. A federal appeals court ruling struck down the law claiming it violated constitutional free-speech and due-process protections. The law required that the NEA use “artistic excellence and merit’’ as the criteria for judging funding applications, taking into consideration “general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public.’‘
Congress was pushed to initiate the law after disgusting and extremely offensive “art” projects received NEA funding. Most notorious was the NEA exhibition of the work of Andre Serrano which included a piece entitled “Piss Christ”, a large photograph of a crucifix immersed in the “artist”‘s urine. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case early next year, with a decision due by the end of June.