Only a slight majority of Americans (57%) supported the right of the Brooklyn Museum to show the controversial "Sensation" exhibit in the fall of 1999, according to a poll commissioned by the First Amendment Center.

In October 1999, the First Amendment Center commissioned the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut to conduct a study of Americans' attitudes toward freedom of expression issues arising from the Brooklyn Museum's decision to host the controversial "Sensation" exhibit.

Given that a number of studies have found strong public support for freedom of expression in the abstract -- see, for example, the annual State of the First Amendment surveys sponsored by the First Amendment Center -- the "Sensation" exhibit presented an opportunity to find out how supportive the public would be when freedom of expression was put to the test in a concrete situation.

Americans were, in fact, split over whether the Brooklyn Museum should have the right to show the "Sensation" exhibit. While a majority (57%) of Americans agreed that the museum should be able to show the exhibit, a significant proportion (39%) disagreed, with 31% "strongly" disagreeing.

Despite opposition to the exhibit from nearly 4 in 10 Americans, more than 8 in 10 (84%) agreed that people had a First Amendment right to attend museums that show art that might be offensive to others.

Six in ten Americans (60%) thought that the government should not have the power to ban the "Sensation" exhibit, even though the Brooklyn Museum is partially supported by public funds. The same proportion (60%) also felt that the government did not have the right to withdraw public funds from the museum because of its display of controversial artwork.