Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S. 726 (1978)

• Author: Steven Shiffrin
• Pages: 981

Page 981

In FCC v. Pacifica Foundation the Court held that limited civil sanctions could constitutionally be invoked against a radio broadcast containing many vulgar words. The Court stressed that its holding was limited to the particular context, that is, to civil sanctions applied to indecent speech in an afternoon radio broadcast when, the Court assumed, children were in the audience. The opinion did not address criminal sanctions for televised or closed circuit broadcasts or late evening presentations, nor did it illuminate the concept...