Creative Arts, Media and Free Speech Groups Join ACLU In Urging Supreme Court To Reject FCC Censorship (8/7/2008)
Brief Calls On Court To Uphold Lower Court Ruling In "Fleeting
Expletives" Case
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today on behalf of creative
arts, media and free speech organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union
criticized the Federal Communication Commission's regulation of "indecent
speech" as arbitrary, inconsistent and irreconcilable with core First Amendment
values. The brief urges the Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling in
Federal Communication Commission (FCC) v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. striking
down the recent FCC decision to ban even "fleeting expletives" from the airwaves
as an unjustified departure from the agency's longstanding practices.
The following can be attributed to Steven R. Shapiro, Legal Director of the
ACLU:
"Decades of experience have shown that the FCC's effort to regulate
'indecent' speech on the airwaves is arbitrary, inconsistent, and unpredictable.
No government agency should be given such power under the Constitution. The
FCC's sudden and unexplained decision to ban even 'fleeting expletives'
highlights this inconsistency, chills protected speech and violates the First
Amendment."
Several organizations joined the ACLU's brief and
called on the Court to reject the FCC's suppression of free speech.
The following can be attributed to Michael Apted, President of the Directors
Guild of America:
"For the first time in 30 years, the Supreme Court will review its policy on
censorship of indecency. We've joined this amicus brief to assert our strong
objection to the FCC's capricious and inconsistent application of its policies
on indecency and profanity as an unconstitutional expansion of the FCC's control
over the creative process and an unwarranted governmental intrusion on free
speech."
The following can be attributed to Ginny Z. Berson, Vice President and
Director of Federation Services for the National Federation of Community
Broadcasters:
"Noncommercial community-based radio broadcasters do not have the resources
to appeal the FCC's vague - and obsolete - rulings on what constitutes indecency
at any given moment. Consequently, these stations block meaningful content from
the air in acts of self-censorship so that they can spend their money creating
programs that enlighten and empower their communities."
The following can be attributed to Joan Bertin, Executive Director of the
National Coalition Against Censorship:
"The FCC's history of erratic and irrational decision-making about what is
'decent' on radio and TV has chilled creative expression and infringed the
rights of viewers. By trying to accommodate the most squeamish viewers,
the FCC's rulings in fact cheat the vast number of adults who want intelligent
and mature programming."
The following can be attributed to Bob Edwards, First National Vice President
of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA):
"In joining with the ACLU in this brief, AFTRA members are urging that the
U.S. Supreme Court upholds last year's lower court reversal of the FCC's flawed
indecency decisions in Fox v. FCC. The FCC's overly broad and arbitrary
enforcement of its contorted indecency policies has created a chilling effect
that harms performers and broadcasters - and the general public."
The following can be attributed to David Greene, Executive Director of the
First Amendment Project:
"We hope the Court takes this opportunity to bring its broadcast decency
jurisprudence in line with the modern realities about how Americans welcome
media of all sorts into their homes. The FCC's current policy of arbitrary
enforcement and ad hoc rule changes is not only mystifying, but offensive to the
First Amendment rights of both those who create and transmit broadcast content
as well as those who receive it."
The following can be attributed to Laura Possessky, President of the
Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts:
"The low-income artists that we counsel face many challenges to create their
work. But doubt over when language might be barred from the airwaves or find
favor with government regulators inhibits their art at its inception, an
unconstitutional chill to their free expression rights."
The following can be attributed to Francine Prose, President of PEN American
Center:
"Huge swaths of American literature are effectively banned from the airwaves
under the FCC's indecency regime, more than ever under its absurd 'fleeting
expletives' rule. Radio stations were even afraid to broadcast Allen Ginsberg's
'Howl' on the 50th anniversary of that internationally-recognized classic. We
look forward to the Supreme Court's decision in this important case."
Additional organizations on the brief are the American Booksellers Foundation
for Free Expression; Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media; and the
National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture.
Lawyers on the case are Marjorie Heins and Shapiro and Chris Hansen of the
ACLU.
The ACLU brief is online at: www.aclu.org/freespeech/censorship/36256lgl20080807.html
More information is available online at: www.aclu.org/bleep
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