The years of work by grassroots groups and concerned citizens who fought to increase fines for broadcast indecency were undone in a controversial court ruling. --- A federal appeals court handed the broadcast TV networks a major victory Monday, ruling that the Federal Communications Commission's crackdown on indecency was "arbitrary and capricious."The 2-1 decision by a panel of judges from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York found that the FCC's decisions last year that isolated uses of expletives had violated broadcast indecency standards and "represents a significant departure" from previous commission rulings. The FCC ruled in March 2006 that uttering certain expletives was indecent. The ruling focused on four incidents from 2002 to 2004: episodes of ABC's "NYPD Blue" and CBS' "The Early Show," along with Fox's broadcasts of the 2002 and 2003 "Billboard Music Awards." . . . But the judges said they were "skeptical that the commission can provide a reasoned explanation for its 'fleeting expletive' regime that would pass constitutional muster." . . . [Read More]
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