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SCOTUS takes on ‘fleeting expletives’ |
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Written by Justin Hemlepp
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Monday, 17 March 2008 |
Thanks to Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie, the U.S. Supreme Court this fall will take on its first broadcast indecency case since the 1978 FCC v. Pacifica “Seven Dirty Words" case (According to George Carlin, the seven words you can't say on television are "shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, mother-fucker, and tits.")
According to AP:
The case concerns a Federal Communications Commission policy that allows for fines against broadcasters for so-called "fleeting expletives," one-time uses of the F-word or its close cousins.
Fox Broadcasting Co., along with ABC, CBS and NBC, challenged the new policy after the commission said broadcasts of entertainment awards shows in 2002 and 2003 were indecent because of profanity uttered by Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court said the new policy was invalid and could violate the First Amendment.
No fines were issued in the incidents, but the FCC could impose fines for future violations of the policy.
The case before the court technically involves only two airings on Fox of the "Billboard Music Awards" in which celebrities' expletives were broadcast over the airwaves. NBC is separately challenging an FCC decision that rapped the network for airing Bono's use of the F-word during a Golden Globes awards show in 2003.
The case, FCC v. Fox Television Stations, 07-582, will be argued in the fall.
I anticipate this case will be the subject of many law schools’ journal write-on competitions, law review case notes and media bar conferences. All the while, broadcasters will chew on their nails muttering "Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, mother-fucker, and tits."
[Yahoo, RCFP, USAToday, First Amendment Center]
Justin Hemlepp, executive editor of TheSequitur.com, is a third-year law student. |
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