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Content: Ideas for a Future NEA"; The Ethical Spectacle, 
      End All 
      Federal Support of Controversial Art. Freedom of Expression at the National Endowment for 
      the Arts, a web site developed 
      and maintained by Julie 
      Van Camp, Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Long 
      Beach, provides an excellent introduction to this topic. Prof. Van Camp 
      provides succinct analysis of: How is freedom of expression for artists protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? Is funding of the arts an appropriate government activity? How does freedom of expression apply in the context of federally funded activities? How is aesthetic value determined by the executive and judiciary branches of government? The culmination of the battle over NEA 
      funding - at least for the moment - came in 1998 when the Supreme Court 
      decided National 
      Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, 524 U.S. 569 (1998). Congress 
      has passed a statute that required the NEA to take "into consideration 
      general standards of decency" in deciding whether to fund an application.