Court Rejects 24-Hour Ban on Broadcast Indecency

By Mark Walsh

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to allow the Federal Communications Commission to implement a total ban on indecency on radio and television.

The Court on March 2 let stand a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that a federal law banning such material violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

The Court has ruled in the past that the Constitution does not protect "obscene'' speech--that which appeals to "prurient'' interest and lacks artistic, political, or scientific value. But it has afforded some protection to "indecent'' speech, which it defines as speech that may contain vulgarity but...