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in support of free expression
The information presented here by the National
Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) may be freely redistributed in its entirety,
provided that readers are informed that the information was obtained from
NCAC's World Wide Web site and that credit is given to the appropriate source
of whatever information is used. Permission is expressly granted for the information
obtained to be made available for file transfer from installations offering
unrestricted anonymous file transfer on the Internet. Information found here
may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without
the written permission from the National Coalition Against Censorship.
©Copyright 2005 NCAC
WEB DESIGN
Jeanne Criscola Criscola Design
free speech first amendment censorship
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A Selective Timeline of Censorship in the U.S.A.
1990
National Endowment for the Arts grants to Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes (the NEA Four) are vetoed by chairman John Frohnmayer after having been recommended by the agency's peer review panel. Three of the rejected artists are gay and deal with homosexual issues in their work; the fourth, Karen Finley, is an outspoken feminist. In 1993 courts rule in their favor and all receive compensation surpassing their grant amounts. Congress passes an amendment, which requires that all NEA grants take into account ?general standards of decency and respect of the diverse beliefs and values of the American public.? Joseph Papp, director of the New York Shakespeare festival, rejects a $50,000 NEA grant because of its requirement that grantees sign a statement that they would not produce ?obscene? work. A local sheriff stages a raid on a Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective show at the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati and seeks indictment against museum director Dennis Barrie and the Arts Center itself on obscenity charges. The case goes to trial. Both Dennis Barrie and CAC are acquitted. Barrie leaves CAC shortly afterwards. Broward County bans the sale of rap group 2 Live Crew's album Nasty as they wanna be. The album is found obscene by a federal judge. The decision is reversed on appeal. States consider legislation to prohibit the sale of recordings with parental advisory warning stickers to those under 18.
Under pressure from the Rutherford Institute the NEA pulls funding for the catalogue of "Tongues of Flame?, an exhibition of AIDS-related work by David Wojnarowicz at Illinois State University.
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