The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU of Texas) have confirmed that the Fort Worth Police Department has returned photographs by Sally Mann, which were seized from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in January.
Sally Mann, photographs from the series “Immediate Family.”
Elizabeth Larison, the Director of NCAC’s Art & Culture Advocacy Program, released the following statement:
“It’s important to celebrate the return of these works because it brings the last bit of closure to a sensationalized and protracted investigation and also because it represents the rightful check on the abuse of government power. Artistic freedom won, and artists can and should continue to exercise this right.”
Aaron Terr, FIRE’s Director of Public Advocacy, added, “The return of Mann’s photographs brings a welcome end to a shocking abuse of government power. Police had no business storming into a museum and seizing art like contraband. They picked a fight with the First Amendment and lost.”
In early January, following The Dallas Express’ publication of several articles questioning whether Sally Mann’s photographs of her children nude constituted child pornography, Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare filed a complaint against the Modern. The museum, which does not own the artworks, presented Ms. Mann’s photographs in a temporary exhibition, Diaries of Home, which was on view from November 17, 2024, through February 2, 2025.
The artworks were removed from the exhibition by police in January, while the matter was under investigation. At the time, NCAC, FIRE, and ACLU of Texas spoke out against the seizure of the artworks as a violation of the First Amendment. The organizations noted that the photographs do not meet the legal definition of obscenity or constitute child pornography.
Last month, a Tarrant County Grand Jury announced it would not bring charges against the museum or the artist, but the photographs were not immediately returned.
While this specific matter has now been closed, in early March, a North Texas Representative introduced a bill in the Texas Legislature, which aims to penalize museums for displaying “obscene photographs, drawings, or similar visual representations.” If the bill is signed into law, it would go into effect on September 1, 2025.
