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Court Grants Cert in FCC v. Fox

By Andrew Raff, Esq.

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted cert and agreed to review the Second Circuit's ruling in Fox v. FCC, 06-1760-ag, that the Commission's policy sanctioning "fleeting expletives" is arbitrary and capricious. FCC v. Fox Docket. The Government's Cert Petition asks The Court to review "whether the court of appeals erred in striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s determination that the broadcast of vulgar expletives may violate federal restrictions on the broadcast of 'any obscene, indecent, or profane language,' 18 U.S.C. 1464; see 47 C.F.R. 73.3999, when the expletives are not repeated." Federal Communications Commission & USA V. Fox Television Stations, Inc. Et Al., No. 07-582 (S.Ct) Reply Brief for Petitioners Statements by Commissioners Copps and Tate. Will this result in a decision that proscribes the scope of indecency regulation permissible by the First Amendment? Will the Court take this as an opportunity to promote speech or to promote the Commission's authority to continue to regulate speech that is disfavored by the Commissioners? The Onion imagines a slightly different standard for defining indecency-- one with which I'm sure no one would have a problem:
FCC Okays Nudity On TV If It's Alyson Hannigan

Full post as published by IPTAblog on March 19, 2008 (boomark / email).