Supreme Court to hear Fleeting Expletives from the FCC (the case about them, that is)

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For the first time in 30 years, the Supremes are making a comeback...to broadcast indecency cases. The Associated Press reports that the SCOTUS (as we inside-the-Beltway like to call them) has granted cert (another legal buzzword for "ok, let's hear it")  to FCC v. Fox Television Stations, 07-582.

First off, I'll note that the FCC has a dismal record before the Federal courts. I don't have time to run the numbers, but they lose many more than they win. Normally the Government comes in with a huge advantage, but this agency is simply the Washington Senators of litigation. To bring as many appeals as they do, I guess "they gotta have heart..." On the other hand, Paul Clement, while a great advocate, is still no match for his predecesor, that master Long Ball Hitter Ted Olsen, or even Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo'. (Seriously. Go rent Damn Yankees before I post another YouTube clip).

Technically, this case only concerns the Billboard Music Awards show in which expletives uttered by Cher and Nicole Richie were broadcast over the public airwaves in 2002 and 2003. More well known is the seperate case that NBC has brought challenging the FCC's fine against them for broadcasting Bono's use of the "F-word" during the 2003 Golden Globes.

Note that the FCC is the appellant in this case. They are asking the highest Court in the land to overturn a decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York which struck down the Commission's rules on "fleeting expletives." In that 2-1 ruling, the Circuit Court rapped the FCC on the knuckles for changing its' policy and failing to explain the rationale for doing so. The Appeals Court decision nullified the policy until the FCC came up with a better explanation, and also skeptically noted that any such explanation would still be unconstitutional.

Note that the 2nd Circuit hit the FCC with the equivilant of a legal 1-2 combination. The left hand, the procedural grounds rejection is a swift jab, but the constitutional argument is a knockout uppercut with the right glove. 

The government's position is interesting, to say the least. Quoth the AP:

Solicitor General Paul Clement, representing the FCC and the Bush administration, argued that the decision "places the commission in an untenable position," powerless to stop the airing of expletives even when children are watching.

The FCC has pending before it "hundreds of thousands of complaints" regarding the broadcast of expletives, Clement said. He argued that the appeals court decision has left the agency "accountable for the coarsening of the airwaves while simultaneously denying it effective tools to address the problem."

 

One explanation for the Supreme Court revisiting the 30 year old FCC v. Pacifica decision is that the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia is pondering the weighty question of whether or not Janet Jackson's brief flash of jewlery-covered nipple during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show was indecent and deserves a fine. The Supremes generally intervene to resolve such "split circuit" decisions.

To give some background, I'll return to the AP article:

The new policy was put in place after a January 2003 broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show by NBC when U2 lead singer Bono uttered the phrase "f------ brilliant." The FCC said the "F-word" in any context "inherently has a sexual connotation" and can trigger enforcement.

The Fox programs at issue are a Dec. 9, 2002, broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards in which singer Cher used the phrase "F--- 'em" and a Dec. 10, 2003, Billboard awards show in which reality show star Nicole Richie said, "Have you ever tried to get cow s--- out of a Prada purse? It's not so f------ simple."

Two questions come to mind. 1) are the "thousands" of complaints that Solicitor General Clement refers to actual complaints, or "click to complain" form letters, and 2) did anyone actually watch the Billboard Music Awards?

If a "celebrity" utters an expletive and noone is tuned in, should we even care?

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