Second Circuit Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments re: constitutionality of FCC indecency policy

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Second Circuit Schedules Oral Arguments In Fox Vs. FCC
by John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable
December 18, 2009

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals (based in New York) has scheduled oral arguments in Fox vs. the FCC for Jan. 13, according to one of the attorneys involved in the case.

The court will give 22 minutes a side for argument, which doesn't sound like much but is "an eternity" for that circuit according to a lawyer who would know.

The court is hearing the case on instructions from the Supreme Court, which overturned the Second Circuit's decision that the FCC's crackdown on fleeting profanity was arbitrary and capricious and remanded the decision back to the court.

The FCC concluded that the "vulgar expletives" uttered by Cher and Nicole Richie during a Fox 2002 broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards were a violation of community standards for broadcasting.

Read more: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/441158-Second_Circuit_Schedules_Oral_Arguments_In_Fox_Vs_FCC.php

Still it'll be a long long time before the moral guardians like the Parents Television Council will realize that those bad words and body parts that accidentally get shown on TV are really really trivial compared to real-life issues like...health care, education, and jobs.