ACLU demands Fort Worth police return photos taken from museum in child porn investigation
Three civil liberties organizations are accusing the Fort Worth Police Department of “unconstitutional censorship” and demand that police return the photos seized from a local museum last month as part of a child pornography investigation.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the National Coalition Against Censorship sent a letter addressed to Police Chief Neil Noakes on Wednesday, Feb. 19, insisting the department stop the investigation.
The photos in question — which were on display in the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s “Diaries of Home” exhibit — included images of photographer Sally Mann’s children in the nude.
“While some may find the images inappropriate, that does not strip them of the First Amendment protection afforded to artistic expression,” the letter states.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth declined to comment on the letter.
Fort Worth police seized the photos in January after some local officials questioned if the images were child pornography.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare called the images “deeply disturbing” in a post on X and expressed confidence that law enforcement would thoroughly investigate the matter “and take appropriate action.”
“Sexual exploitation of a minor, including under the guise of ‘art,’ should never be tolerated,” O’Hare said in the post.
Fort Worth police spokesperson Buddy Calzada confirmed to the Star-Telegram in a Feb. 4 email that the photos were in department’s possession.
“Only details we can provide currently is that a complaint was made and an investigation began,” Calzada said.
Police spokesperson Daniel Segura told the Star-Telegram in an email Wednesday that he wasn’t aware of any updates regarding the investigation. The department has not commented on the organizations’ letter.
ACLU of Texas spokesperson Adriana Piñon said in a news release that the seizure and investigation of the photos amounts to censorship.
“This is a clear violation of the First Amendment and of the guardrails against abuse of the criminal justice system,” Piñon said. “Artistic expression should not be subject to the whim and punishment of government officials’ personal taste.”
Mann took numerous photos of her three children when they were growing up in the 1980s and early ‘90s. Some of the images show her daughters posing with dolls, her son with a bloody nose and one of her daughters showing off a new dress.
Other photos depict her children in the nude, and these in particular have been the subject of controversy since they were first published in 1992.
“Anyone who’s ever taken a photo of their child or grandchild taking a bath understands that not all photographs of child nudity are malicious, let alone child abuse,” said Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at FIRE. “The seizure of Mann’s works is an egregious abuse of power that dishonestly conflates artistic expression with sexual exploitation.”
Mann, who was named “America’s best photographer” by Time magazine in 2001, has said she was “documenting the everyday joys and woes of child-rearing.”
The photos have been displayed in over a dozen art galleries around the world, including the National Gallery of Art.
“All of Mann’s children, as adults, continued to support the collection and their mother and have never once suggested they were abused,” the civil liberties organizations said in their news release.
