United States et al v Playboy Entertainment Group Inc
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Abstract
This paper examines the closely divided decision by the United States Supreme Court that held Section 505 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 violates the First Amendment. Section 505 sought to restrict certain cable channels with sexually explicit content to fully scramble their signal bleed or to only show such programming when children are unlikely to be watching. This significant case held for the first time that programming on cable television is entitled to First Amendment protection.
In this case the Justices ruled 5-4 in favor of Playboy Entertainment Group, stating that Congress over stepped its bounds in trying to protect children from sexually oriented adult programs by implementing the Section 505 regulation. Unlike obscene material, sexually explicit programming is protected under the First Amendment. The decision produced a slim majority opinion that challenges recent governmental efforts to weaken appropriate First Amendment free speech guarantees.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion for the Court and was joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, Souter and Thomas. Justice Steven Breyer wrote the principal dissent, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor and Scalia.
United States et al. v...