Reply #7: That's where constitutional law comes into effect.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

The government must show that it has a compelling interest in abridging civil liberties. In the case of FCC rulings, that's exactly why you have lower standards for cable television than you do for network broadcasting - because with a network broadcast, anyone with a set of rabbit ears can tune in, making it incredibly difficult to prevent minors from viewing. Cable's a much different story. You can either choose not to have cable television or you can use the V-Chip thing that comes along with pretty much every cable box these days. That's also why basic cable is more stringent than premium cable - because you can get basic cable without a receiver.

The "some people" part of your sexual partners argument doesn't fly. The government does have a compelling interest to protect children from entering into sexual decisions they do not understand at the hands of a coercive adult. That's not morality or intrusion - that's protection, plain and simple.

Even though it may not seem like it, there actually is a significant amount of black and white when it comes to legislating morality. There are a lot of grey areas (unfortunately, abortion is one of them), but most issues can be pretty cut and dry.