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NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR ARTS v. FINLEY

Opinion of the Court

Solicitor General Waxman argued the cause for petition-
ers. With him on the briefs were Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral Hunger, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, Deputy
Assistant Attorney General Preston, Jeffrey P. Minear, Wil-
liam Kanter, Alfred Mollin, and Karen Christensen.

David Cole argued the cause for respondents. With him
on the briefs were Ellen Yaroshefsky, Marjorie Heins, Ste-
ven R. Shapiro, Mary D. Dorman, and Carol Sobel.*

Justice O(cid:146)Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.†
The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
Act of 1965, as amended in 1990, 104 Stat. 1963, requires the
Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
to ensure that “artistic excellence and artistic merit are the
criteria by which [grant] applications are judged, taking into
consideration general standards of decency and respect for
20
the diverse beliefs and values of the American public.”
In this case, we review the Court of Ap-
U. S. C. § 954(d)(1).

*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were ﬁled for the American
Center for Law and Justice by Jay A. Sekulow, Colby M. May, James M.
Henderson, Sr., and John P. Tuskey; for Liberty Counsel by Mathew D.
Staver and Frederick H. Nelson; and for the National Family Legal Foun-
dation by Len L. Munsil.

Briefs of amici curiae urging afﬁrmance were ﬁled for the American
Association of University Professors et al. by John Joshua Wheeler, Jona-
than R. Alger, and Jeffrey P. Cunard; for Americans United for Separation
of Church and State by Steven K. Green, Julie A. Segal, and Edward
Tabash; for the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin by Daniel Kelly;
for the New School for Social Research et al. by Floyd Abrams, Burt
Neuborne, Kathleen M. Sullivan, Jonathan Sherman, Elai Katz, and
Deborah Goldberg; for the Rockefeller Foundation by Donald B. Verrilli,
Jr.; for Twenty-Six Arts, Broadcast, Library, Museum and Publishing
Amici Curiae by James F. Fitzpatrick, James A. Dobkin, Matthew T.
Heartney, Mark R. Drozdowski, Elliot M. Mincberg, and Lawrence S.
Ottinger; for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts et al. by Marci A. Hamil-
ton; and for Claes Oldenburg et al. by Gloria C. Phares.

Paul J. McGeady and Robert W. Peters ﬁled a brief for Morality in

Media, Inc., as amicus curiae.

†Justice Ginsburg joins all but Part II–B of this opinion.