Justice Department Appeals Indecency Cases To Supreme Court

Justice Department Appeals

The OBAMA administration, through the Justice Department, is appealing the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling invalidating the FCC rules against broadcast indecency to the Supreme Court.  The appeal involves the "fleeting expletives" case as well as the 2003 ABC "NYPD BLUE" fleeting nudity case.

The Second Circuit ruling last year in the "fleeting expletives" case rejected the FCC rules as unconstitutionally vague.  Using the same reasoning, the court invalidated the "NYPD BLUE" fine in JANUARY.  Acting Solicitor General NEAL KATYAL wrote in the appeal that the decisions "preclude the commission from effectively implementing statutory restrictions on broadcast indecency that the agency has enforced since its creation in 1934."

The appeal is subject to the Supreme Court's discretion to take the case or decline to consider the appeal.  The Court last considered the indecency rules in 2009, narrowly upholding the Commission's authority in the same "fleeting expletives" case but remanding the case for further review.

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