Lewitzky Gets Support in NEA Suit

A friend-of-the-court brief was filed Monday by 40 prominent figures, most of them from outside the performing arts, supporting choreographer Bella Lewitzky’s lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lewitzky’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in July, challenges the 1990 anti-obscenity certification that was imposed on NEA grantees. Lewitzky’s foundation turned down a $72,000 NEA grant in protest of the requirement.

Among the signers of the brief were Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, city councilmen Joel Wachs and Michael Woo, the Beverly Hills Bar Assn., writer Harlan Ellison and several writers’ groups.

The public broadcasting establishment gave its support, represented by the Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio and the Pacifica Foundation, which operates KPFK-FM in Los Angeles.

The visual arts were represented by artist June Wayne, photographer Judy Fiskin, Artweek magazine, four galleries including Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and several visual arts support groups.

In a statement released with the news of the brief, Bradley said “the prior restraint implied in the anti-obscenity oath is chilling, objectionable, divisive and threatens the cultural vitality of this city and this nation.”

The signers of the brief are “a super-coalition of groups, to demonstrate that the issue goes beyond any particular work of art,” said attorney Stephen F. Rohde, writer of the brief. The brief includes “a legislative history” he said, which “demonstrates that the (anti-obscenity) statute was purposefully aimed at the suppression of controversial ideas.”

Theatre Communications Group, representing more than 160 theaters and theater figures, filed a friend-of-the court brief last month.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 17.