Court OKs TV Indecency Curbs

A federal appeals court today upheld the federal government’s stricter policing of sexual material on radio and television but overturned a rule relegating all such programming to the hours after midnight.

In a unanimous panel decision, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the Federal Communications Commission’s new definition of indecent material “is not constitutionally defective.” But the court said the commission acted improperly when it determined that any programming deemed indecent, though not legally obscene, may be aired only between midnight and 6 a.m. The court said the FCC must hold hearings to determine when indecent material may be aired.