Expletive Policy Deleted

EXPLETIVE POLICY DELETED
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] For years, the Federal Communications Commission had a reasonable, practical approach to live broadcasts. It recognized that coarse language sometimes slips in and if the offensive words were relatively isolated events, stations could carry them without fear of punishment. But in recent years, the FCC decided to go after broadcasters that carry programs with even “fleeting expletives." One of the commission’s rationales was that the expletives could not be separated from their “sexual or excretory” meaning. But the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit noted that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have both used the words the commission objected to in public in ways that clearly did not have any “sexual or excretory” meaning. The Second Circuit did not need to reach the constitutional issues in the case. But it rightly pointed out that the FCC’s “fleeting expletives” policy also raises serious First Amendment concerns. That suggests that even if the commission tried to improve its reasoning, the policy would still be struck down. The FCC should return to the more reasonable approach it once took to regulating live broadcasts and focus on more important issues.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/opinion/06wed3.html
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