“Today’s ruling reaches the level of judicial
stupidity and is a sucker-punch to families everywhere. In rendering
an opinion it wishes to foist on the nation, the Third Circuit has
chosen to ignore the law, the facts, Supreme Court precedent, the
intent of the Congress and the will of the American people,” said
PTC President Tim Winter.
“When CBS aired the now-infamous Janet Jackson striptease, the
response was an unprecedented national uproar with the largest
spontaneous outpouring of FCC complaints in its history. The event
became the biggest news story for weeks, even during a time of war.
Congress held hearings and passed legislation increasing the fines
for broadcast indecency violators. And a new pop-culture expression
of ‘wardrobe malfunction’ was coined.
“How can nudity and a striptease in front of 90
million unsuspecting TV viewers not qualify as indecency? We’re not
talking about content that aired after 10 pm in front of 90 million
adults. Each and every year the Super Bowl broadcast draws the
highest viewership ratings of the year, including tens of millions
of children and families.
“Despite the reality of what happened, the
Third Circuit suggests that the FCC’s ruling was ‘counter to the
evidence before the agency.’ In the Court’s eye, what exactly could
be more shocking or more deserving of a broadcast indecency charge?
“We urge the FCC and our nation’s High Court to
include this outrageous Circuit Court opinion in its judicial review
of the broadcast decency law, which is currently before the Court,”
Winter concluded.
To speak
with a representative from
the Parents Television
Council, please contact
Megan Franko at (703)
859-5054 or Liz Krieger at
(703) 683-5004 ext. 120.
