REPORTS: SCOTUS LIKELY TO UPHOLD FCC INDECENCY RULES

Weighing the comments from Supreme Court justices who heard arguments about the FCC’s indecency rules on Tuesday, many journalists concluded that the majority of justices appeared to agree with the government’s position that such rules should be remain in effect. “Sign me up,” Justice Antonin Scalia, for the principle that “the government is entitled to insist upon a certain modicum of decency” from broadcasters. “All we are asking for …” Chief Justice John Roberts began saying, before correcting himself, “What the government is asking for, is a few channels where … they are not going to hear the S-word, the F-word. They are not going to see nudity.” However, at one point ABC lawyer Seth Waxman, a solicitor general in the Clinton administration, said that “family groups” have bombarded the FCC with complaints even about nude statues shown during the last Olympics’ opening ceremonies “very much like some of the statues that are here in this courtroom.” When the justices began looking around the courtroom, Waxman quickly directed their attention to what the groups might have found offensive. “Right over here, Justice Scalia,” Waxman remarked.