S P E C I A L : Supreme Court: 1997-1998 Session Supreme Court to rule on arts and decency
Will also hear cases on HIV bias, parolees' rights
November 26, 1997
Web posted at: 9:25 p.m. EST (0225 GMT)WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will decide whether federal grants to artists can be subject to decency standards in a case that pits the free-speech rights of artists against Congress' desire to avoid spending tax dollars on lewd art.
The justices said they will consider reinstating a law that required the National Endowment for the Arts to consider decency along with artistic merit when handing out public money.
The arts-funding law was enacted by Congress in 1990 following a controversy over the NEA's role in funding such works as homoerotic images by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ," a photograph of a crucifix immersed in urine.
It was challenged in court and ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Los Angeles. His decision was upheld by an appeals court, but the Justice Department filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The court also announced that it will:
- Hear an appeal by a Maine dentist who, a lower court said, violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act when he told a woman with HIV that he would only fill her cavity at a hospital.
The 140,000-member American Dental Association urged the court to clarify dentists' legal obligations in such circumstances. The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders group says that those with HIV will become "second-class citizens" without "strong legal protections against discrimination."
- Decide whether authorities may search the homes of paroled criminals not suspected of misconduct when the criminals have agreed to the searches as a condition of parole.
The justices will review a ruling by Pennsylvania's highest court that said guns found in the home of a paroled killer cannot be used as evidence at his parole-revocation hearing. Federal and state courts have split on the issue.
- Use an airline pilots' lawsuit to clarify whether non-union workers can be forced to go through arbitration before filing a lawsuit to challenge fees they are required to pay to a union under an agency-shop agreement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Supreme Court:
1997-1998 Session
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