Suppreme Court Returns, Will Hear Case Concerning Dirty Words on TV

The new Supreme Court term begins tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 6, with a number of interesting cases on the docket. In particular, the justices are scheduled to hear a case (on Election Day) concerning dirty words on television. The appeals court argument itself, which involves swearing by Cher and Paris Hilton on a prime-time awards show, is laced with expletives. Apparently when Cher appeared on the Billboard Music Awards in 2002, she used a four-letter word connoting sex. The next year, on the same show, banter between Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie included that words and another obscenity. In the Federal Communications Commission v Fox Televisions Stations, the court will decide whether the F.C. C,. has the power to punish broadcasters for airing "fleeting expletives." As we have been discussing recently in class, obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. In addition, it is difficult to define, but the test has several parts including whether the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole must appeal to prurient interest in sex, and the material is offensive because it affront community standards, and it must be without redeeming social value. What do you think here?