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Administrative Law Keyed to Lawson
Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc.
Citation:
556 U.S. 502 (2009)Facts
In 2004, the FCC changed its enforcement policy regarding “fleeting expletives” in broadcast television. Previously, the FCC generally did not take enforcement action against isolated or fleeting expletives. However, following several high-profile incidents, including Bono’s use of an expletive during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, the FCC announced it would now consider even isolated uses of certain words to be potentially indecent and subject to enforcement. The FCC subsequently applied this new policy to Fox’s broadcasts of the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards, where celebrities Cher and Nicole Richie used expletives during live broadcasts. Fox challenged these enforcement actions, arguing that the FCC’s change in policy was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
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