FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
E76730
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation is a landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the government's authority to regulate indecent material on public airwaves, stemming from a radio broadcast of George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" monologue.
Aliases (1)
Statements (51)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
→
landmark First Amendment case → |
| appliesTo |
over-the-air radio broadcasting
→
over-the-air television broadcasting → |
| areaOfLaw |
First Amendment law
→
broadcast regulation → |
| citation |
438 U.S. 726
→
|
| concurrenceBy |
Harry A. Blackmun
NERFINISHED
→
Lewis F. Powell Jr. NERFINISHED → |
| country |
United States
→
|
| decidingCourt |
Supreme Court of the United States
→
|
| decisionDate |
1978-07-03
→
|
| dissentBy |
Potter Stewart
NERFINISHED
→
Thurgood Marshall → William H. Rehnquist → William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED → |
| distinctionFrom |
obscenity, which is not protected by the First Amendment
→
|
| docketNumber |
77-528
→
|
| doesNotDirectlyApplyTo |
cable television
→
print media → |
| factualBackground |
A mid-afternoon radio broadcast of George Carlin's "Filthy Words" monologue prompted a listener complaint to the FCC.
→
|
| fullName |
Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation
→
|
| holding |
The FCC has authority to sanction a radio station for broadcasting indecent language at a time of day when children are likely to be listening.
→
The government may regulate indecent material on public airwaves during times when children are likely to be in the audience. → |
| holdingType |
plurality opinion
→
|
| joinedByInMajorityOrPlurality |
Byron R. White
NERFINISHED
→
Harry A. Blackmun NERFINISHED → Lewis F. Powell Jr. NERFINISHED → Warren E. Burger → |
| keyConcept |
broadcast spectrum scarcity
→
indecency regulation → pervasiveness of broadcast media → protection of children from indecent content → |
| legalIssue |
regulation of indecent speech on public airwaves
→
scope of First Amendment protection for broadcast media → |
| majorityOpinionBy |
John Paul Stevens
NERFINISHED
→
|
| originatingAgency |
Federal Communications Commission
→
|
| originatingCity |
New York City
→
|
| originatingMedium |
radio broadcast
→
|
| originatingStation |
WBAI
→
|
| pageInUnitedStatesReports |
726
→
|
| petitioner |
Federal Communications Commission
→
|
| relatedWork |
George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" monologue
→
|
| respondent |
Pacifica Foundation
→
|
| speechTypeAtIssue |
indecent speech
→
not legally obscene speech → |
| standardAnnounced |
indecent material may be restricted to times of day when children are less likely to be in the audience
→
|
| subsequentInfluenceOn |
FCC indecency enforcement policies
→
later broadcast indecency cases and regulations → time-of-day restrictions for broadcast indecency → |
| volumeInUnitedStatesReports |
438
→
|
Referenced by (4)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
George Carlin
→
Seven Dirty Words → |
associatedCourtCase |
|
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
("Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation")
→
|
fullName |
|
Seven dirty words you can never say on television
→
|
influenced |