U.S. Second Court of Appeals Upholds the First Amendment Against FCC Encroachment

The Federal Communications Commission was dealt a severe blow on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled that their current indecency policy is unconstitutionally vague.

The decision is a serious setback to Julius Genachowski, Obama’s chairman at the FCC.  Genachowski has been focused on significantly expanding the power of the FCC to control free speech and has been, until this week, quite successful.

The decision from the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the FCC’s indecency policies violate the First Amendment and are “unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here.”  In the decision, U.S. Circuit Judge Rosemary S. Pooler wrote,  “Indeed, there is ample evidence in the record that the FCC’s indecency policy has chilled protected speech.”

Genachowski is currently reviewing the ruling and will either modify the FCC’s policies to comply with the U.S. Constitution or appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.  If the FCC chooses to appeal, it creates a risk that the Supreme Court could strike down other unconstitutional restrictions on free speech in the agencies current regulations.  The most likely outcome of this ruling is that the FCC will change the current regulations as little as possible and hope that Fox and other broadcasters do not file a follow-up lawsuit.

Americans value freedom of speech very highly.  The free market should determine what content broadcasters provide to their customers, not a group of government bureaucrats.  Americans don’t need to support a bunch of leeches who suck up our tax dollars and tell us what we can and cannot watch on television.  With the U.S. government $13T in debt, this should be obvious to just about everyone.