Supreme Court Sides with Broadcasters on TV Indecency

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Supreme Court has ruled that government regulators imposed unfair punishment for the use of fleeting expletives and brief nudity on television, saying that the current policies are too vague and that broadcasters were not given proper notice of them.

After being put to a vote, the court concluded that the FCC cannot enforce its current policies against isolated profanity and nudity on live and scripted programs. "The commission failed to give Fox or ABC fair notice prior to the broadcasts in question that fleeting expletives and momentary nudity could be found actionably indecent," stated Justice Anthony Kennedy, speaking on behalf of the majority.

The FCC is free to amend the policies, which will then have to be reviewed by courts in the future, and detail them for the broadcasters.

The case of the FCC verses Fox Television Stations goes back to 2002 and 2003, when the network was cited for two separate incidences of airing curse words. In 2004, Fox and other broadcasters challenged the FCC’s decision to adopt stricter policies about the use of profanity on broadcast television. The court evaluated the review alongside another FCC indecency case, stemming back to a 2003 issue over nudity on the ABC series NYPD Blue. In 2009, the dispute went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the FCC had followed the proper procedures for expanding its policy to ban fleeting expletives. In 2010, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that the FCC’s policies were too vague, citing that the government regulators’ decision to sanction fleeting expletives was "arbitrary and capricious" under federal law.

The new ruling from the court still doesn’t resolve the larger issue of First Amendment rights, and whether or not the FCC rules violated anyone’s right to free speech.