The Parents Television Council has put out an action alert to members asking them to make it clear to the Obama Administration that it wants the Justice Department to appeal the Fox profanity decision, in which a lower court ruled the FCC's profanity decision against Fox, and its indecency enforcement regime in general, was unconstitutionally vague.
Justice has twice sought extensions on filing that appeal (the latest deadline is April 21), and an FCC source told B&C that Justice had still not made the call on appealing the decision. The FCC has pointed out that without more direction from the court, its hands are effectively tied on enforcing its indecency rules.
"YOUR URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO KEEP FIGHT FOR BROADCAST DECENCY ALIVE!" PTC said in its "urgent" alert, adding that they needed to urge the president to stand up for "broadcast decency."
It was PTC's complaints that helped spur the FCC to crack down on fleeting expletives and nudity. "Unless the Solicitor General demands a review from the Supreme Court, the Second Circuit's ruling will stand," says PTC. "Unless the Second Circuit's ruling is overturned, the FCC will do NOTHING about broadcast indecency!"
