On Tuesday, January 10, the Supreme Court heard a case regarding
the Federal Communication Commision (FCC) and its regulations
preventing networks from airing indecent programming or profane
language. The Supreme Court seemed to side with the FCC but will
not issue a final opinion until July.  This is actually the
second time the Supreme Court has heard this case, FCC v. Fox
(although on separate issues), and this case has a long and
involved history. It began back in 2002 when singer Cher, who
was presenting at the Billboard Music Awards, rsponded to her
critics by saying “f**k’em” on air. Then in 2003, also on the
Billboard Music Awards, Nicole Richie stated: “Why do they even
call it The Simple Life? Have you ever tried to get cow s*** out
of a Prada purse? It’s not so f***ing simple.”  In response to
these events, the FCC fined Fox for airing the profane language
even though they were mere “fleeting expletives.” The first time
FCC v. Fox came to the Supreme Court, a 5-4 decision ruled that
the FCC’s polic