National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley

A federal statute directed the NEA's (defendant) chairperson to ensure grant applications are judged on 'artistic excellence and artistic merit,' while taking into account 'general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public'; performance artist Karen Finley and three others (plaintiffs), whose grant applications an NEA advisory panel had recommended approving, were denied funding after the NEA Council's majority recommended disapproval. Finley sued, alleging the NEA's decency-and-respect provision facially violated the First Amendment, and the district court and court of appeals agreed, granting summary judgment for Finley before the Supreme Court granted certiorari.