High Court gives FCC ‘green light’ to sanction television indecency

The Supreme Court’s decision to duck a call on the federal government’s power to police the airwaves for “indecent” content effectively hands that power to the Federal Communications Commission, according to lawmakers and conservatives reacting to the ruling.

They said the FCC will now face pressure from Congress and advocacy groups to go through that backlog of complaints and start cracking down on stations. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the court gave the FCC a “green light" to resume sanctioning stations. “The public airways are just that—public,” he said. “The networks using them have a moral duty to the American public to responsibly provide content that is acceptable for all viewers.” Dan Isett, director of public policy for the Parents Television Council, said in an interview that the FCC should start fining stations for indecent content as soon as possible. “The court did not strip the FCC of the authority to do anything,” Isett said, adding that the next step is for the commission to review the backlog of complaints. “There's bipartisan agreement on this,” said Andrew Schwartzman, a telecommunications lawyer who represented artists opposed to the indecency fines. “Everyone on the Hill wants the FCC to take a hard line.” But it is unclear how eager FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will be to crusade for tough decency standards.