FCC appeals court ruling on indecency rules

The Federal Communications Commission fired back at a federal appeals court that said the regulatory agency's enforcement of its indecency rules was "unconstitutionally vague" and had a "chilling effect."

The FCC filed an appeal August 26 asking the three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to reconsider its July decision that tossed out the regulatory agency's enforcement policies regarding indecent programming. In its appeal, the FCC said the court overstepped its bounds. Rather than address the constitutionality of banning fleeting expletives, "it instead invalidated the agency's overall approach to indecency enforcement." The agency chastised the court for reaching this decision, "even though the Supreme Court approved the commission's contextual approach in FCC vs. Pacifica." "The three-judge panel's decision in July raised serious concerns about the commission's ability to protect children and families from indecent broadcast programming," Austin Schlick, the FCC's general counsel, said in a statement. "The commission remains committed to empowering parents and protecting children, and looks forward to the court of appeals' further consideration of our arguments."