PTC, AFA condemn court’s reversal of Super Bowl fine

Story by AFA Journal Staff. Sources cited for News of Interest indicate source of basic information only. September 2008

  The Parents Television Council (PTC) has criticized a July 21 ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fine given to CBS for an incident during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. The incident, in which singer Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed, shocked millions of unsuspecting families and children.
  AFA and PTC led the charge calling on the FCC to fine CBS and its affiliates for violating the federal indecency law. The FCC levied a fine of $550,000.
  “Once again, a three-judge panel has hijacked the will of the American people – not to mention the intent of the Congress acting on behalf of the public interest – when it comes to indecent content on the public airwaves,” said Tim Winter, PTC president. “While we are not surprised that the legal venue hand-picked by CBS would rule in favor of the network, the court’s opinion goes beyond judicial activism; it borders on judicial stupidity.”
  AFA President Tim Wildmon agreed with Winter. “This court’s action is incredibly arrogant,” he said. “It’s just another case of high-and-mighty judicial activists deciding they know better than millions of Americans who want decency standards upheld on television.”
  “If a striptease during the Super Bowl in front of 90 million people – including millions of children – doesn’t fit the parameters of broadcast indecency, then what does?” Winter asked. “If the court thinks that the event wasn’t shocking enough, even though it was the single largest news story for weeks when the nation was at war, then what is shocking enough?”
  Winter believes the court undermined the FCC regulatory powers by second-guessing its decision to fine CBS. “The 3rd Circuit Court is wrong,” he said, “and we urge the FCC to appeal this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
  Winter said the broadcast decency issue is addressed by S. 1780, the Protecting Children From Indecent Programming Act now pending in the U.S. Senate. He urged citizens to contact their U.S. senators to urge immediate action on the bill. (See p. 10.) He said if that legislation does not pass, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act passed two years ago will be rendered essentially meaningless.
  “We should not take this kind of decency issue lightly,” Wildmon said. “One way we can speak up is to urge our U. S. senators to pass the Protecting Children From Indecent Programming Act. Something has to be done to stop runaway judicial activism.”
  www.parentstv.org, 7/21/08