Court overrules FCC on Janet Jackson Super Bowl nipple

Good news for the resistance in the war on indecency. Court tosses FCC 'wardrobe malfunction' fine.

A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction."

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity.

The sunshine medallion titty flash may have been a lame stunt, whether intentional or not, but the FCC's overkill response set a dangerous precedent. This ruling restores some balance to the relation between broadcasters and censors.

The 90 million people watching the Super Bowl, many of them children, heard Justin Timberlake sing, "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song," as he reached for Jackson's bustier.

Factual quibble: 90 million people may have tuned into the Super Bowl at some point, but that doesn't mean 90 million people were actually watching and listening to the halftime show.

The court found that the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so "pervasive as to amount to 'shock treatment' for the audience."

So apparently there really is a shock doctrine. Who knew?

In other news, RIP George Carlin.

 

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