Action for Children’s Television v. Federal Communications Commission [ACT III]
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
58 F.3d 654 (1995)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Pursuant to a congressional directive in the Public Telecommunications Act of 1992, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (defendant) promulgated regulations that prohibited the broadcasting of indecent content between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. by any radio or television stations that went off the air at or before midnight. For broadcast stations that stayed on the air after midnight, the prohibition on indecent content extended until midnight. The FCC had data indicating that children watched television and listened to the radio from early morning until late in the evening but that child viewership dropped dramatically as midnight approached. Further, FCC data indicated that a significant number of adults watched television or listened to the radio after midnight. Action for Children’s Television (ACT) (plaintiff) challenged the law and regulations in federal court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Buckley, J.)
Dissent (Wald, J.)
Dissent (Edwards, C.J.)
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