Baphomet and barristers boldly busting bawdy barriers

"For the first time in recorded history, art show judges have given a First Place award to a ceramic which portrays a mythical, naked, hermaphrodite giving birth to Siamese twins. The judges were lawyers presenting the California State Bar’s “Bench and Bar” art exhibition at the Bar’s 84th Annual Meeting in Long Beach. The piece honored was “Baphomet has a Baby” by Robert Crook of Pasadena.

Members of the California State Bar have often set precedents that have influenced decision makers around the world. Time will tell if this decision will also influence actual cases heard in courts here and elsewhere. The art show judges’ decision, in the context of all top three awards being graphic nudes, is making a pretty strong statement that members of the California Bar take the Supreme Court’s March 2011 ruling on the First Amendment very seriously. In the landmark ruling, the Supreme Court determined that the Freedom of Expression protections of the First Amendment have top priority."

• Category: Bookmarks
• Tags:art, art exhibition, art show, baphomet, California, california state bar, decision makers, First Amendment, freedom, freedom of expression, hermaphrodite, history, Law, myth, nudes, siamese twins, Supreme Court, top priority