3rd Circuit Overturns FCC Fine of CBS for 2004 Halftime Show

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Frederick Lane [fslane3 () gmail com]
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 11:10 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: 3rd Circuit Overturns FCC Fine of CBS for 2004 Halftime Show

Hi Dave --

For IP if you wish:

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the $550,000 fine
levied by the FCC against CBS for the 2004 halftime show, labeling the
FCC's decision as "arbitrary and unreasonable." I'm reading through
the decision now, but the gist of the 3rd Circuit's opinion is that
the FCC's decision to fine CBS was based on agency policy that was
announced after the 2004 Super Bowl. Since CBS could not reasonably
have known about the new policy, the imposition of the fine was
unfair. The opinion of the appeals court seems pretty thorough, so
I'll be surprised if the FCC's appeals this to the Supreme Court.

Here's a link to the 3rd Circuit opinion:

http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/063575p.pdf

For those who are interested in more background information, I wrote
about the 2004 Super Bowl incident and the FCC's action in my recent
book, "The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture."
(Prometheus Books 2006).

Regards,

Fred

--
Frederick Lane is an attorney, expert witness, lecturer, and author
who has appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," CNN, NBC, ABC,
CBS, the BBC, and MSNBC. He has just finished his fourth book, "The
Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the
Supreme Court" (Beacon Press May 2008), and is beginning work on
"People in Glass Houses: The Right to Privacy in the Age of Electronic
Voyeurism" (Beacon 2009). For additional information, please visit
http://www.FrederickLane.com or call 802-318-4604.



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