Justices uphold FCC fines for cursing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court deleted expletives left and right Tuesday in narrowly upholding a government policy that threatens broadcasters with fines over the use of even a single curse word on live television.

But in six separate opinions that used none of the offending words over 69 pages, the justices suggested they could yet find the Federal Communications Commission’s “fleeting expletives” policy unconstitutional. The court said a federal appeals court should weigh whether it violates First Amendment guarantees of free speech.

The precipitating events were live broadcasts of awards shows in which Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie — Justice Antonin Scalia referred to the latter two as “foul-mouthed glitteratae from Hollywood” — let slip or perhaps purposely said variations of what Scalia called “the F- and S-words.”

By a 5-4 vote, the court threw out a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. That court had found in favor of a Fox Television-led challenge to the FCC crackdown and had returned the case to the agency for a “reasoned analysis” of its the tougher policy on indecency.

The commission appealed to the Supreme Court instead.

Scalia, writing for the court, said the FCC policy, adopted in 2004, was “neither arbitrary nor capricious.”

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps called the decision “a big win for America’s families.” Copps said the “decision should reassure parents that their children can still be protected from indecent material on the nation’s airwaves.

Fox expressed disappointment but said it was “optimistic that we will ultimately prevail when the First Amendment issues are fully aired before the courts.”