7/12/11: FOX vs. FCC in Supreme Court Battle

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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that pits the Fox television network against the Federal Communications Commission.

Initially, Fox and other networks were charged with violating obscenity rules during times that young people might be watching. That case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which sent it back to the lower courts where Fox is now arguing its First Amendment rights to free speech were violated by the rules.

That is the case currently before the high court. National Religious Broadcasters chief counsel Craig Parshall says “what we’re looking at now is the question of whether or not the FCC has jurisdiction to enforce any rules about indecency without hitting the tripwire of the First Amendment.”

He adds the FCC is not trying to regulate accidental indecency.