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Justices Keep Debate PG

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Los Angeles Times

Published: November 5, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court justices talked about indecency and foul language Tuesday, but they did so without using any of the actual words that federal regulators hope to ban from television and radio broadcasts.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia made clear that they strongly support the drive to keep the F-word and the S-word off broadcasts during the hours when children and families are likely to be watching.

But they may not speak for the majority. Justice John Paul Stevens commented that the F-word, in some formulations, can be "very funny." He also wondered whether the government could ban other words that refer to sex or excrement.

"Do you think use of the word 'dung' would be indecent?" he asked the government attorney representing the Federal Communications Commission. No, he replied, because "dung" is not as "patently offensive" as the S-word.

Roberts, who has two young children, said families who watch a Hollywood awards program should not have to hear foul words. It is different, he said, if a live sports broadcast picks up a foul word in the background. "The context makes all the difference in the world," the chief justice said. At issue before the court Tuesday was a crackdown on broadcast expletives announced by the FCC four years ago. Broadcasters can face fines of more than $325,000 for airing an expletive but a lower-court ruling blocked the policy from being enforced.

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