Fox and the other major broadcasters sued to block the FCC from enforcing its strict policy. They argued that the change was not justified and was unconstitutional.
(The Supreme Court had ruled once before on broadcast indecency. In 1978, the justices upheld a fine against a California radio station for airing George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" monologue in midafternoon. But it was unclear whether the use of a single expletive could be deemed indecent.)
The U.S. appeals court in New York ruled that the FCC's tougher policy was unjustified and unwarranted. But the Supreme Court reversed the ruling and upheld the policy in FCC vs. Fox TV.
Scalia said the FCC "could reasonably conclude that the pervasiveness of foul language and the coarsening of public entertainment in other media . . . could justify more stringent regulation of broadcast programs." He added that "technological advances have made it easier to bleep out offending words."
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined Scalia. But the relatively narrow ruling may have papered over a deeper split among the court's conservatives over the constitutionality of regulating broadcasters.
For his part, Scalia said he did not see a problem. "Any chilled references to excretory or sexual material surely lie at the periphery of 1st Amendment concern," he said. But Thomas added a concurring opinion that voiced concern about the "deep intrusion in the 1st Amendment rights of broadcasters."
The court's four dissenters said the FCC had not justified its zero-tolerance policy for expletives. Justice John Paul Stevens also questioned the notion that the expletives in question referred to sex or excrement.
"As any golfer who has watched his partner shank a short approach knows, it would be absurd to [say] that the resultant four-letter word . . . describes sex or excrement and is therefore indecent," he wrote.
He also found it ironic that the FCC patrols the airwaves for these words while TV viewers are constantly asked "whether they too are battling erectile dysfunction or are having trouble going to the bathroom."
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps, a Democrat, lauded the ruling as "a big win for families."
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), who chairs the panel that oversees the FCC, also applauded the decision.
"We must be doing more, not less, to give the FCC and parents all across America the resources they need to protect their children from indecent programming," he said.
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david.savage@latimes.com
