COURT OVERTURNS FCC INDECENCY FINE

In yet another blow to conservative parents’ groups and religious organizations battling what they consider indecent content on broadcast television, a federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a $1.2 million fine that the Federal Communications Commission had imposed following ABC’s 2003 telecast of an NYPD Blue episode that included a brief shot of a woman’s buttocks and the side of a breast as she prepared to shower. The case is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court. Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, which had organized a massive letter-writing campaign to protest the episode, said Tuesday that the court’s ruling would “only serve to embolden the networks to air even more graphic material.” In a statement, ABC said, “We have always believed that this 2003 episode of the long-running and acclaimed series NYPD Blue was not indecent and that the fines were unwarranted and unconstitutional.”