Finley v. National Endowment for the Arts

I respectfully dissent.

First Amendment law has taken some odd turns lately. We now live in a legal context prohibiting display of a cross or menorah on government property. American Jewish Congress v. City of Beverly Hills, 90 F.3d 379 (9th Cir.1996), Separation of Church and State Committee v. City of Eugene, 93 F.3d 617 (9th Cir.1996). But if a cross is immersed in urine, a government grant cannot be withheld on the ground that the art would offend general standards of decency and respect for the religious beliefs of most Americans. The government, under today’s decision, cannot even…