I’ve been really impressed with our judicial system lately. The attempts to expand the interventionist tentacles of government have been thwarted not by Congress or the administrative branch but by the courts.
One of these impressive moments came yesterday when the United States Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit held in Fox Television v. FCC, that the Federal Communications Commission’s policy on decency violates the First Amendment because the policy is unconditionally vague and creates a chilling effect that goes beyond fleeting expletives.
In other words, the FCC has to be more specific in its regulation of decency than just saying we don’t like the use of an inadvertent f-bomb or the accidental baring of a breast at a half-time show.
In arriving at its conclusion, the court made a couple important points. First, the court raised the concern about the risk of subjective, content-based decision-making and its negative impact on the First Amendment. Do we want the FCC to say, “we’ll allow ABC to show a movie where f-bombs are dropped throughout a movie because the movie depicts real events, but we want the f-bombs edited from a documentary on NBC that discusses drug intervention.” Where would the FCC draw the line on indecency?
Second, because the FCC’s standards for identifying indecency are indiscernible, are not clear upon inspection, this alone creates an environment for discrimination against one person’s speech. In other words, I woke up this morning and something about the lines in that documentary rubbed me the wrong way, so I’m going to say it was indecent. Talk about throwing cold water on free speech.
The court only addressed the FCC’s policy. It did not go so far as to call section 1464 of Title 18 unconstitutional. According to the language in the law, “whoever utters any obscene, indecent, or profane language via radio communications will be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.” The statutory basis for FCC rules on decency still exists.
What will the FCC do next? According to FCC Commissioner Copps, expect the FCC to appeal the decision. The FCC will have its work cut out for it. The U.S. Supreme Court has already showed a preference for corporate speech in its recent ruling regarding limits on campaign donations by corporations. It may not buy an argument from the FCC that it should be allowed to regulate decency on a standard that basically says, we are going to regulate it in this medium but ignore it because it takes place in another medium.
That to me would be indecent.
What Firefox Extension can I get to download streaming videos from sites?
Did a search on Google and found this page at no.1. Congratulations. Excellent post and keep it up
I havent almost any word to appreciate this post
Aw, this was a really great post. In theory I’d like to write like this also – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.
hi there, your websites are really special. I actually thank you for perform
hello there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this web site, since I experienced to reload the website lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but slow loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if ads and marketing with yahoo. Well I’m adding this RSS to my email and could look out for a lot more of your respective fascinating content. Make sure you update this again soon..
Many thanks for taking the time to go over this process, I think strongly concerning it and additionally prefer knowing read more about that topic. Should potential, simply because you attain mastery, does one beliefs modernizing a site by having also particulars? This is very ideal for you.
This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger. I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post. Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!
comment3, retin-a made my face swell, 263199, purchase compounded liquid doxycycline feline, 19620, strattera 10mg, 5999, compatibillity of erythromycin, 693512, lab test lasix, bljyz, accutane side affects, %D, valtrex glaxosmithcline, %[[[, lasix t1 2 time, tbrbud, allopurinol with food, holht, levitra male enhancement, xbhl, low cost cialis, mooj, why does valtrex cause headaches, 8]]],
היי קבלו אתר עם מכירה של גופי תאורה מקצועיים אשר תוכננו בקפידה והותאמו במיוחד לגן הישראלי. באתר מידע רב המלווה בתמונות המוצרים אשר יהפכו את החלום של גינה מדהימה למציאות
fussball wetten statistik…
fussball wetten statistik…
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You definitely know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us something informative to read?
good day, your website is really unquie. Although i appreciate your do the job
http://www.pixelelement.com/bonnier-the-magazine-of-the-future-now