Interesting ruling yesterday by the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, especially in light of my fight against the Spokane County Parks & Rec Softball “Casual Profanity” rule.

An occasional curse word or even Janet Jackson’s infamous "wardrobe malfunction" on prime-time TV shouldn’t bring down the wrath of the Federal Communications Commission, a federal court ruled Tuesday.

While the specifics aren’t the same, and the situation is different for broadcasters as opposed to just us regular folk – in fact, it’s generally more restrictive for broadcasters – there are, nevertheless, some very interesting parallels in the opinion of the court.

Among the commonalities is the opinion that the FCC rule on language was “unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue”. Sounds almost like a rule that gives umpires broad authority to arbitrarily declare virtually any word off-limits.

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Tags: First Amendment, Free Speech, law, Liberty, softball

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