College Art Association Seeks to Block Law on Depictions of Animal Cruelty

The College Art Association has filed a brief -- prepared by the National Coalition Against Censorship -- with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the justices to back a lower court's ruling finding unconstitutional a federal law barring depictions of certain kinds of animal cruelty. The association argues that artists and professors who create or use artistic materials could be charged with breaking the law. The brief notes that the association is not defending actual cruelty to animals -- which is barred under other statutes -- but regulation of artistic depictions.