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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. FCC
Citation:
518 U.S. 727 (1996)Facts
Cable operators typically own physical cable networks that convey programming over multiple channels. Federal law requires operators to reserve some channels for leased access by unaffiliated third parties, and local franchise agreements often require operators to set aside channels for public, educational, or governmental (PEG) access. Prior to 1992, federal law prohibited cable operators from exercising any editorial control over the content of programs on these access channels.
In 1992, Congress enacted three provisions to address concerns about sexually explicit programming on access channels. Section 10(a) permitted cable operators to enforce a policy prohibiting “patently offensive” programming on leased access channels. Section 10(b) required operators to segregate and block such programming on a single channel, requiring written requests from subscribers for access. Section 10(c) permitted operators to prohibit such programming on public access channels.
The petitioners, including programmers and viewers, challenged these provisions as violations of the First Amendment.
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