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ARTICLE · 30 APRIL 2009

Supreme Court Docket Report – April 28, 2009

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began exercising its statutory authority to impose penalties for the use of “obscene, indecent, or profane language” over the airwaves in response to Pacifica Radio’s infamous 1975 daytime broadcast of comedian George Carlin’s “Filthy Words” monologue.

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Andrew Tauber
Andrew Tauber
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Originally published April 28, 2009

Keywords: Federal Communications Commission, FCC, Fox Television, penalties, obscene, indecent, profane language, Enforcement Bureau, fleeting expletives, change in policy, Administrative Procedure Act

Today the Supreme Court issued a decision, described below, of interest to the business community.

Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., No. 07-582 (previously discussed in the March 17, 2008 Docket Report).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began exercising its statutory authority to impose penalties for the use of "obscene, indecent, or profane language" over the airwaves in response to Pacifica Radio's infamous 1975 daytime broadcast of comedian George Carlin's "Filthy Words" monologue.  In the wake of that action, and until the incidents that led to today's decision, the FCC took the position that so-called "fleeting," non-literal use of the "F- and S-Words" were not actionably

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