ART

In a sharply split 4-3 decision, Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday the commonwealth’s law forbidding children under the age of 18 from posing in the nude is unconstitutional. The decision overturned the conviction of a man who took pictures of his semi-nude 15-year-old stepdaughter. In a majority opinion written by Justice Herbert Wilkins, the court ruled that separating the constitutional issues of conduct and speech “would undercut the foundation of First Amendment protections.” Wilkins added in a footnote: “The artists who painted some of the world’s greatest paintings engaged in behavior made unlawful if they used child models.”