High court agrees no indecency fine for CBS "wardrobe malfunction"

Source: Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday let stand a lower court decision to throw out a federal agency's $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp for airing singer Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast.

Jackson's right breast was briefly exposed to almost 90 million TV viewers after singer Justin Timberlake ripped off part of her bustier during a halftime show performance. CBS was fined $27,500 for each of the 20 stations it owned.

The justices, in a brief order, rejected an appeal by the Federal Communications Commission, declining to review a ruling by a U.S. appeals court based in Philadelphia that held the FCC had acted arbitrarily and capriciously in imposing the fine.

The Supreme Court rejected the FCC's appeal in the CBS case after its June 21 ruling in two separate cases that went against the FCC's crackdown on broadcast profanity and nudity. It unanimously ruled the FCC standards were vague and the agency had failed to give fair notice of its indecency policy change.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/29/cbs-janetjackson-court-idUSL2E8HT6RD20120629