You Still Can't Say the Seven Dirty Words

The Supreme Court has upheld the right of the government to police language on the airwaves:

The Supreme Court said today that TV viewers should not be hit with the "F-word" or the "S-word" during prime time broadcasts, upholding the government's power to impose huge fines on broadcasters for airing a single expletive.

In a 5-4 decision, the justices said federal law has long prohibited the broadcast of "indecent" language, and they said the Federal Communications Commission had ample authority to crack down on what Justice Antonin Scalia called the "foul-mouthed glitteratae from Hollywood."

He was referring to several incidents that trigged the FCC's crackdown.

When entertainer Cher was given a life-time achievement award on Billboard Music Awards, she said it proved her critics wrong. "So, f....'em," she said. The broadcast aired live on the Fox Network and was viewed by about 2.5 million minors, Scalia said.

The FCC cited similar comments by Bono and Nicole Richie on entertainment industry award shows.

In its new policy, the FCC said a single "fleeting expletive" could trigger fines for the network and all the local broadcasters who aired the show. Fox and the other networks went to court, arguing that this sudden change in policy was unjustified and unwarranted.

But the Supreme Court upheld the new policy today in FCC v. Fox Television and confirmed the government retains broad power to police the airwaves.

Good.