Cert. Grant in FCC v. Fox Sets Up Reconsideration of Broadcast Indecency Rules

Yesterday the Supreme Court agreed to review the Second Circuit’s ruling in F.C.C. v. Fox Television Stations, creating an opportunity of the Court to consider whether the First Amendment analysis presented in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation.  In Pacifica, the Court  upheld the FCC’s imposition of sanctions for a radio station’s afternoon broadcast of George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” monologue. In 2010, the Second Circuit concluded that the FCC’s context-based approach to determining indecency in the form of expletives or nudity was unconstitutionally vague and therefore violated the First Amendment.  Yesterday’s grant identified the question to be considered as “[w]hether the Federal Communications Commission’s current indecency-enforcement regime violates the First or Fifth Amendment to the United States.”

JFB