Arguments will be heard Wednesday by a federal appeals court concerning the First Amendment rights of broadcasters, and whether the government's decisions on what constitutes indecent speech violate those rights.
According to an Associated Press report, lawyers and constitutional experts say the case stands a chance of eventually making it to the U.S. Supreme Court, the first time that a broadcast indecency dispute has gone that far in nearly three decades.
Broadcasters will argue that an inconsistent and unconstitutional enforcement policy has been adopted and enacted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in regard to how it decides whether profanities uttered on broadcast stations are permissible.
On the other side of the issue, the FCC will argue that it has acted within its authority.
If the government loses its case, the appeals court will likely remand the dispute to the agency and ask it to rewrite its rules. If the government wins, it gives "court approval for the significant expansion of their approach to indecency enforcement," former FCC enforcement bureau chief David Solomon told the Associated Press.
