Primitive Art Cops Sued

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has filed a lawsuit against the city of Pilot Point and its police department, charging that they violated the freedom of expression of an art gallery owner by coercing him to remove a mural depicting the biblical story of Eve. Because her breasts were bare in the mural, the local police repeatedly threatened, in writing, to prosecute under a criminal statute aimed at those who would victimize children by selling or displaying to them hard-core pornography. In response, the gallery owner covered Eve's breasts with "Crime of Scene" tape. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that simple representations of nudity are a constitutionally protected form of artistic expression. Irish Art