Supremes To Rule on FCC Indecency Ban

Scenes from 'NYPD'

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would hear a case that could decide whether the Federal Communication Commission’s policy banning nudity and expletives on broadcast television was a violation of the First Amendment.

According to a story by Edward Wyatt at nytimes.com, the case is an appeal by the F.C.C. of a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York that said the commission’s policy against “fleeting expletives” was “unconstitutionally vague.” In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the commission had followed proper administrative procedures when it invoked the ban on expletives during certain hours.

The Obama administration had asked the Supreme Court to overturn the recent appeals court decision, saying it would prevent the agency from effectively policing the airwaves. But when the case previously came to the court, several justices expressed skepticism that the ban on expletives was constitutional.

The case involves two instances of live award shows on the Fox network in which celebrities uttered profanities. In addition, the case involves a scene on the former ABC series “NYPD Blue” that included a naked woman. The incidents occurred in 2002 and 2003.

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