WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday (June 27) that
it will examine whether the Federal Communications Commission has the
right to ban "fleeting expletives" on broadcast TV.
The case will review last year's decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals that rejected the FCC's power to regulate the use of
expletives and nudity in prime-time television. The FCC fined
broadcasters for depicting a woman's naked buttocks in a 2003 episode of
"NYPD Blue."
The Supreme Court -- which sided with the FCC in a similar case in
2009 -- was urged by the Obama administration to review the decision,
while several broadcasters -- including Fox, NBC and CBS -- petitioned
to let the lower court's decision remain unchanged.
