Essay on "First Amendment Applications"

Essay 4 pages (1331 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Because the airwaves are the people's, the government has the duty to regulate them for the benefit of the people, and this includes protecting the people from obscenities and offensive behavior. When a radio station broadcast a show which included a "Filthy Words" segment, the Supreme Court found in the case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, that "of all forms of communication, broadcasting has the most limited First Amendment protection," and decided the case in favor of the FCC. (FCC v. Pacifica Foundation)

While the broadcasting company argued that the specific words were not obscene, as required by the law, the Court disagreed and found that the medium, time of day, potential audience, and method of transmission were all relevant factors in determining whether something broadcast was patently offensive or not. Because the station chose to broadcast its segment at a time of day when children were most likely listening, and because radio broadcasts are almost impossible to avoid in modern life, the station's broadcast violated the law against obscene, indecent or profane use of the public airwaves. Once again technology seemed to be the determining factor as the Supreme Court used the public's control of the airwaves as the basis of their decision to regulate the freedom of speech of the radio station.

Finally, a case involving the latest technological advancement in communication, the internet, came before the Supreme Court when a 1996 law, the Communications Decency Act (CDA), was challenged in court. The act made it illegal to transmit indecent information through the internet because children could be exposed to it. However, the Supreme Court decided, in the case of Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, that the law was too broad in its regulation and "does not allow parents to consent to their children's use of restricted materials, is not limited to commercial transactions, fails to provide an definition of 'indecent' and omits any requirement that 'patently offensive' material lack socially redeeming value…is punitive, [and] applies to a medium that, unlike radio receives full First Amendment protection." (Reno v ACLU)

The CDA was a law written too broadly, without specific definitions, and applied to a medium that the Supreme court found was not intrusive, like radio. While radio could be heard by children anywhere, the internet must be accessed, usually at home or at a public spot like a library, where individual regulations should be in place to keep indecent material from children. Because the internet required individual intent to access it, and because parents or appropriate adults usually control their children's access to the internet, the court found that it was up to those parents to control their children's access to indecent materials, not the government. When the government attempted to regulate children's access to indecent material, it overreached and denied legitimate materials to people other than children; and in doing so was denying First Amendment rights to those people.

As the medium of communication advances, as it has done over the past two hundred years, the Constitution, and particularly the First Amendment, has had to be applied to different means of communication at different times. And the Supreme Court has determined that First Amendment protections are dependent upon the medium of communication, how intrusive the medium is in ordinary life, how people access it, and how well it can be controlled by means other than government intervention.

References

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978). Retrieved from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=U.S.&vol=438&invol=726

Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974). Retrieved

from http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/418/241/case.html

Red Lion Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969). Retrieved

from http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/395/367/case.html

Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997). Retrieved

from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/521/844/case.html READ MORE

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