Supreme Court takes up TV profanity case
source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/scotus/la-na-scotus5-2008nov05,0,457786.story
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The court's first major broadcast indecency case in 30 years tests whether the government can ban these "fleeting expletives."
Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia made clear that they strongly support the drive to keep the F-word and the S-word off broadcasts during the hours when children and families are likely to be watching.
Roberts, who has two young children, said families who watch a Hollywood awards program should not have to hear foul words. It is different, he said, if a live sports broadcast picks up a foul word in the background.
A federal appeals court in New York threw out the ban and the government appealed to the Supreme Court.
Fox TV took the lead in challenging the FCC's policy because it had broadcast several of the awards programs that figured in the crackdown.
"At the end of the day, you are regulating the content of speech," said Washington lawyer Carter Phillips. He said the court should block the FCC's new policy, either because it is arbitrary or because it violates the 1st Amendment. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also said the court needed to consider the free-speech issue. That is "the big elephant in the room," she said.
The government's policy will remain on hold until the high court rules in the case. The FCC has authority to regulate speech on broadcast radio and television stations, but not the Internet, cable and satellite TV.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia made clear that they strongly support the drive to keep the F-word and the S-word off broadcasts during the hours when children and families are likely to be watching.
Roberts, who has two young children, said families who watch a Hollywood awards program should not have to hear foul words. It is different, he said, if a live sports broadcast picks up a foul word in the background.
A federal appeals court in New York threw out the ban and the government appealed to the Supreme Court.
Fox TV took the lead in challenging the FCC's policy because it had broadcast several of the awards programs that figured in the crackdown.
"At the end of the day, you are regulating the content of speech," said Washington lawyer Carter Phillips. He said the court should block the FCC's new policy, either because it is arbitrary or because it violates the 1st Amendment. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also said the court needed to consider the free-speech issue. That is "the big elephant in the room," she said.
The government's policy will remain on hold until the high court rules in the case. The FCC has authority to regulate speech on broadcast radio and television stations, but not the Internet, cable and satellite TV.
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