FCC v. Pacifica Foundation

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 18–19, 1978 Decided July 3, 1978
Full case name	Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, et al.
Citations	438 U.S. 726 (more) 98 S. Ct. 3026; 57 L. Ed. 2d 1073; 1978 U.S. LEXIS 135; 43 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 493; 3 Media L. Rep. 2553
Prior history	Complaint granted, 56 F.C.C.2d 94 (1975); reversed, 181 U.S.App.D.C. 132, 556 F.2d 9 (1977); certiorari granted, 434 U.S. 1008
Holding
Because of the pervasive nature of broadcasting, it has less First Amendment protection than other forms of communication. The F.C.C. was justified in concluding that Carlin's "Filthy Words" broadcast, though not obscene, was indecent, and subject to restriction.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Stevens, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Rehnquist, Powell
Concurrence	Powell, joined by Blackmun
Dissent	Brennan, joined by Marshall
Dissent	Stewart, joined by Brennan, White, Marshall
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I; 18 U.S.C. § 1464

Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978) is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that defined the power of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over indecent material as applied to broadcasting.

Facts

In 1973, a father complained to the FCC that his son had heard the George Carlin routine "Filthy Words" broadcast one afternoon over WBAI, a Pacifica Foundation FM radio station in New York City. Pacifica received censure from the FCC, in the form of a letter of reprimand, for allegedly violating FCC regulations which prohibited broadcasting indecent material.

In reference to this case, a poster in a WBAI broadcast booth warns radio broadcasters against using the seven dirty words.

Holding

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action in 1978, by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene". The Court accepted as compelling the government's interests in:

• Shielding children from potentially offensive material, and
• Ensuring that unwanted speech does not enter one's home.

The Court stated that the FCC had the authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience, and gave the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency in different contexts.

Impact

In 1997, Pacifica Radio "Living Room" host Larry Bensky prefaced an interview with Carlin by saying: "George Carlin, you're a very unusual guest for Pacifica Radio. You're probably the only person in the United States that we don't have to give The Carlin Warning to about which words you can't say on this program, because it's named after you."

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 438
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations (2009)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations (2012)

External links

• Text of the decision courtesy of FindLaw.
• Audio of the oral argument and decision 77-528