Most Important F-Word Is Family, Court Rules

Since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and Bono's mouth malfunction, networks have argued that they shouldn't be liable for indecency if it's "unscripted." Millions of viewers--and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)--disagreed. After an avalanche of complaints, the FCC modified its policy in 2004 and decided to punish even a single profane word on live television. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that policy in an overwhelming victory for American families. By a 5-4 decision, the justices overturned a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court ruling and empowered the FCC to fine networks that violate the rules. The court stopped short of deciding whether the FCC's policy is constitutional, but Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that it was "neither arbitrary nor capricious." In his opinion, he talked about the power of profanity to insult and said, "fleeting expletives constitute harmful first blows to children; it suffices to know that children mimic behavior they observe."