Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 618

524US2

Unit: $U95

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Cite as: 524 U. S. 569 (1998)

573

Opinion of the Court

peals’ determination that § 954(d)(1), on its face, impermissi-
bly discriminates on the basis of viewpoint and is void for
vagueness under the First and Fifth Amendments. We con-
clude that § 954(d)(1) is facially valid, as it neither inherently
interferes with First Amendment rights nor violates consti-
tutional vagueness principles.

I
A

.

With the establishment of the NEA in 1965, Congress em-
barked on a “broadly conceived national policy of support for
. arts in the United States,” see § 953(b), pledging
the .
federal funds to “help create and sustain not only a climate
encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry
but also the material conditions facilitating the release of . . .
§ 951(7). The enabling statute vests the
creative talent.”
NEA with substantial discretion to award grants; it identi-
ﬁes only the broadest funding priorities, including “artis-
tic and cultural signiﬁcance, giving emphasis to American
“professional excel-
creativity and cultural diversity,”
lence,” and the encouragement of “public knowledge, educa-
tion, understanding, and appreciation of the arts.” See
§§ 954(c)(1)–(10).

Applications for NEA funding are initially reviewed by
advisory panels composed of experts in the relevant ﬁeld of
the arts. Under the 1990 amendments to the enabling stat-
ute, those panels must reﬂect “diverse artistic and cultural
points of view” and include “wide geographic, ethnic, and
minority representation,” as well as “lay individuals who are
knowledgeable about the arts.”
§§ 959(c)(1)–(2). The pan-
els report to the 26-member National Council on the Arts
(Council), which,
in turn, advises the NEA Chairperson.
The Chairperson has the ultimate authority to award grants
but may not approve an application as to which the Council
has made a negative recommendation.

§ 955(f).