Public Knowledge Pleased With Result in Supreme Court Indecency Case

Background: Today, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in FCC v. Fox Television Stations. The following statement can be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge.

"We're happy that the Supreme Court struck down the illegal fines against Fox and ABC. The Court has held that the FCC cannot hold broadcasters to overly vague standards about what is and is not allowed on the air. This is the right result, although the Court did not address whether the indecency rules violate the First Amendment. In this case, our primary concern was free expression, not administrative procedure.

We have been, and still are, concerned with the First Amendment problems caused by the FCC's current indecency rules. But those problems will have to be addressed another time."

The amicus brief we filed with the Court is available here.