602
Souter, J., dissenting
Union Free School Dist., 508 U. S. 384 (1993) (after-hours access to public school property may not be withheld on the basis of viewpoint); Leathers v. Medlock, 499 U. S. 439, 447 (1991) ("[D]ifferential taxation of First Amendment speakers is constitutionally suspect when it threatens to suppress the expression of particular ideas or viewpoints"); Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. Public Util. Comm'n of Cal., 475 U. S. 1 (1986) (government-mandated access to public utility's billing envelopes must not be viewpoint based); Members of City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U. S. 789, 804 (1984) ("[T]he First Amendment forbids the government to regulate speech in ways that favor some viewpoints or ideas at the expense of others").
It goes without saying that artistic expression lies within this First Amendment protection. See, e. g., Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., 515 U. S. 557, 569 (1995) (remarking that examples of painting, music, and poetry are "unquestionably shielded"); Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U. S. 781, 790 (1989) ("Music, as a form of expression and communication, is protected under the First Amendment"); Schad v. Mount Ephraim, 452 U. S. 61, 65 (1981) ("Entertainment, as well as political and ideological speech, is protected; motion pictures, programs broadcast by radio and television, and live entertainment, such as musical and dramatic works, fall within the First Amendment guarantee"); Kaplan v. California, 413 U. S. 115, 119-120 (1973) ("[P]ictures, films, paintings, drawings, and engravings . . . have First Amendment protection"). The constitutional protection of artistic works turns not on the political significance that may be attributable to such productions, though they may indeed comment on the political,1 but simply on their expressive character, which
1 Art "may affect public attitudes and behavior in a variety of ways, ranging from direct espousal of a political or social doctrine to the subtle shaping of thought which characterizes all artistic expression." Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U. S. 495, 501 (1952).
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