Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake FCC Superbowl Fine Thrown Out
Posted on July 21, 2008 at 7:51 am (PST)
On Monday a federal appeals court threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson’s breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction." The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity.
The court found that the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so "pervasive as to amount to ’shock treatment’ for the audience."
"Like any agency, the FCC may change its policies without judicial second-guessing," the court said. "But it cannot change a well-established course of action without supplying notice of and a reasoned explanation for its policy departure."
The fine was one of the biggest in history, and it appears also one of the most unfair.
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Not only was the nudity “fleeting”, but it was so clearly accidental, resulting in a split second of exposed breast, that the uproar from the religious right afterwards was disgusting, and much worse than the actual event itself. This was what the FCC caved in to. The fine was thrown out, just as it should have been.
Comment by Gerry — July 21, 2008 #