Obama, FCC Ask for Indecency Ruling

By Ted Johnson
Variety | Article Link

Supreme court decision could set up programming showdown.

The Obama administration and the FCC are asking the Supreme Court to rule on whether its policy of fining broadcasters for indecent material is constitutional, setting up a potential showdown with implications on the government's ability to regulate program content. The Justice Department, acting on behalf of the FCC, filed a write of certiorari with the high court on Thursday, after a federal appeals court earlier this year threw out a $1.2 million fine on ABC stations over a 2003 episode of "NYPD Blue" that showed a brief clip of a woman's naked behind.

Last year, in a separate case brought by Fox Television Stations, a federal appeals panel ruled against the FCC in its sanctions over the utterance of "fleeting expletives" during separate telecasts of the Billboard Music Awards.

The appellate courts have concluded that the FCC's rules are "unconstitutionally vague," and have a potential chilling effect on speech.

The FCC has argued that its rules are based on a "context-based approach" of making decisions on indecent material that have been held up in previous court rulings stretching back decades.

The watchdog org Parents Television Council issued a statement praising the administration for its decision to appeal to the high court.

"Without an appeal before the April 21 deadline, the FCC stood to lose all Congressionally-mandated authority over indecent broadcast TV content," the org stated.

"Today's appeal is a step in the right direction, but we urge the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the children and families who will be impacted if the broadcast decency law is dismantled. The High Court must not give the broadcast networks the opportunity to use narrow, misguided circuit court rulings to nullify the will of the American people, the intent of the U.S. Congress and several decades of Supreme Court precedent."