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September 26, 2007
FCC Taking Indecency Case to High Court
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:28 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government will ask the Supreme Court to review an
appeals court decision that invalidated the Federal Communication
Commission's policy on the broadcast of profanity.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin confirmed the decision in a statement released
Wednesday night.
''I am pleased that the solicitor general will be seeking Supreme Court
review of the Second Circuit's decision,'' he said. ''I continue to support
the commission's efforts to protect families from indecent language on
television and radio when children are likely to be in the audience.''
The solicitor general represents federal agencies in cases before the
Supreme Court.
In June, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected by a 2-1 vote the
agency's policies on so-called fleeting expletives. The case involved two
airings of the ''Billboard Music Awards,'' in which expletives were
broadcast over the airwaves.
The court rejected the FCC's policy on procedural grounds but was
''skeptical that the commission can provide a reasoned explanation for its
fleeting expletive regime that would pass constitutional muster.''
Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told Variety, the entertainment business
magazine, in a report posted on its Web site Wednesday night that he had
authorized the filing of a petition for Supreme Court review of the case.
The government has sought an extension of the filing until Nov. 1.
If the high court decides to hear the case, it will be its first review of
broadcast speech in three decades.
FCC Taking Indecency Case to High Court
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:28 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government will ask the Supreme Court to review an
appeals court decision that invalidated the Federal Communication
Commission's policy on the broadcast of profanity.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin confirmed the decision in a statement released
Wednesday night.
''I am pleased that the solicitor general will be seeking Supreme Court
review of the Second Circuit's decision,'' he said. ''I continue to support
the commission's efforts to protect families from indecent language on
television and radio when children are likely to be in the audience.''
The solicitor general represents federal agencies in cases before the
Supreme Court.
In June, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected by a 2-1 vote the
agency's policies on so-called fleeting expletives. The case involved two
airings of the ''Billboard Music Awards,'' in which expletives were
broadcast over the airwaves.
The court rejected the FCC's policy on procedural grounds but was
''skeptical that the commission can provide a reasoned explanation for its
fleeting expletive regime that would pass constitutional muster.''
Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told Variety, the entertainment business
magazine, in a report posted on its Web site Wednesday night that he had
authorized the filing of a petition for Supreme Court review of the case.
The government has sought an extension of the filing until Nov. 1.
If the high court decides to hear the case, it will be its first review of
broadcast speech in three decades.
