WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday refused to consider an appeal by the Federal Communications Commission of an appeals-court ruling that overturned the agency’s fine against CBS for its broadcasting a fleeting image of Janet Jackson’s breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
But Chief Justice John Roberts warned that because of changes in the agency’s rules since then, any similar offense could be punished.
“It is now clear that the brevity of an indecent broadcast — be it word or image — cannot immunize it from FCC censure,” he wrote in a two-page opinion that put to rest the CBS case, clearing the network of a $550,000 fine.
Recalling the performance by Jackson and Justin Timberlake, he noted, “The performers subsequently strained the credulity of the public by terming the episode a ‘wardrobe malfunction.’ “
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, concurring in a single sentence, observed that a ruling this month by the court in a separate FCC case “affords the commission an opportunity to reconsider its indecency policy in light of technological advances and the commission’s uncertain course.”
In that case, FCC vs. Fox Television Stations, other indecency penalties were overturned because the court found that the agency had not given broadcasters clear enough notice of the bounds of decency.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice had thrown out the fine.
The second time came after the Supreme Court upheld the FCC’s policy threatening fines against even one-time uses of curse words on live television.
The appeals court said the FCC’s policy of excusing fleeting instances of indecent words and images appeared to change without notice in March 2004, a month after Jackson’s halftime act. The judges said that made the agency’s action against CBS “arbitrary and capricious.”
CBS said it was “gratified to finally put this episode behind us.” The network said it has taken steps to put delays in live entertainment programs, and it said it looked forward to “very balanced enforcement” by the agency in the future.
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Media ownership rules stand • WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court turned down media companies’ plea to lift a prohibition on owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
The justices Friday denied the companies’ appeal without comment. The media outlets say the restrictions no longer make sense in the Internet era. The appeal also sought to get rid of other ownership limits including how many local television stations one company can control.
The companies say the rules make it harder for broadcasters and newspapers to do business and respond to competitors on the Internet, satellite and cable — entities which don’t face the same restrictions. The Associated Press
