The Janet Jackson case is, for all intents and purposes, finished. But, as has been customary with just about everything surrounding L'Affaire Jackson, even the Supreme Court's final order included some unexpected flair.… Continue Reading
For some insight into what the Court's recent decision on indecency means going forward, we called on the Swami, Kevin Goldberg. Not surprisingly, he had some thoughts.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has sent the Fox and NYPD Blue cases back down to the Second Circuit. While that might sound like bad news for broadcasters, that's not necessarily the case. In fact, Fox and ABC can clearly view this decision as a significant victory.… Continue Reading
On January 10, the Swami and the Blogmeister took a field trip to the Supreme Court to catch the Fox/ABC indecency argument. Here's their report.… Continue Reading
In a long-awaited if anticlimactic decision, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has again sided with CBS in its fight with the FCC over the 2004 Super Bowl® half-time show.… Continue Reading
Do the Supreme Court opinions in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association shed light on likely outcome of FCC v. Fox Television Stations indecency case next term? The Swami thinks so.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Fox and NYPD Blue cases next term -- and the constitutionality of the FCC's indecency regime will be the only issue on the docket.… Continue Reading
Like a hard-core poker player on a losing streak, the Commission isn't going to let a recent string of defeats discourage it. Au contraire, the FCC's going double-or-nothing: it has asked the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit's 2010 indecency decisions in the Fox and NYPD Blue cases.… Continue Reading
After the Second Circuit declared the FCC's indecency policy unconstitutional,the FCC had only three options if it wanted to fight to defend its indecency regime. It has now made its choice.… Continue Reading
In response to a surge of reader interest in his prognostications, Kevin Goldberg has agreed to give us a look-see into Kevin's Krystal Ball for a prediction of how the Supreme Court may vote if the Second Circuit's recent indecency decision in Fox goes back up.… Continue Reading
Now that the initial hoopla attendant to the release of the Second Circuit's Fox decision has quieted down, let's take a gander at legal scenarios that might be in store for us on the indecency front.… Continue Reading
In a huge win for broadcasters and First Amendment-loving citizens, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has struck down the FCC's indecency policy.… Continue Reading
Grab your rod, bait your hook, put on your floaties - and don't forget the sunscreen - it looks like we're all going on an indecency fishing expedition, thanks to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau!… Continue Reading
The FCC trudged back into court on January 13 to defend the "fleeting expletives" portion of its indecency regime one more time. When last the Commission fought this particular fight in this particular arena, things didn't go so well for the agency. From what we saw, the Commission is not likely to fare any better this time around.… Continue Reading
If you have lost track of the status of the pending indecency appeals amid various other summer distractions, here's a heads up: briefing schedules for the remand phases of the Fox and CBS appeals have been announced.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the FCC's appeal of the 2008 decision which reversed the forfeiture meted out to CBS for the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident. But having agreed to hear the appeal, the Supremes lost no time in vacating the lower court's decision… Continue Reading
As previously reported, the Supreme Court has reversed the Second Circuit's ruling that the FCC's latest policy on "fleeting expletives" was fatally flawed. Here's a summary of the six opinions -- majority, concurring and dissenting -- issued by the Justices.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has issued its long-awaited decision in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. The good news here is that the Supreme Court's ruling changes very little on the indecency front. But the bad news is that the decision effects a major shift in a seemingly mundane legal doctrine, a shift that could affect FCC regulatory activity in all respects for years to come.… Continue Reading
Three FHH attorneys attended the Supreme Court oral argument in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., the first broadcast indecency case to reach the high court in 30 years. They filed the following reports with www.CommLawBlog.com.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the FCC’s defense of its "Omnibus" Indecency order, which involved the FCC’s decision to punish "fleeting" expletives. The case, FCC v. Fox Television Stations, marks the first real Supreme Court review of the FCC’s indecency rules since the famous FCC v. Pacifica case considered George Carlin’s "seven dirty … Continue Reading
You can’t hurry love, and you apparently can’t hurry the Supreme Court, either. Despite considerable speculation that the Supremes might announce on Monday, March 3, whether it had decided to hear the FCC’s appeal in the Fox Television indecency case, the Court gave no indication one way or the other on that score in the … Continue Reading
In a long-awaited decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has finally dropped the hammer on the Commission’s indecency policy. In an opinion issued on June 4, 2007, a three-judge panel (with one dissent) has held that the "fleeting expletive" policy invoked by the Commission in 2004 and then again in the … Continue Reading
