Wednesday, October 17, 2012 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM EDT
Hazel Hall, 215
The Information Economy Project
at the George Mason University School of Law
proudly presents The Tullock Lecture on Big Ideas About Information
FCC v. Fox: Broadcast Indecency Law as the
New Paradigm for Regulatory Failure
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Thomas G. Krattenmaker
Former Director of Research, FCC
Former Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Former Dean and Professor, William and Mary Law School
4:00 – 5:30 pm in Hazel Hall Room 215
GMU School of Law, 3301 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia
Virginia Square-GMU Metro Station (Orange Line)
Reception to Follow in the Levy Atrium, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
In its June 21, 2012 opinion in FCC v. Fox, the Supreme Court vacated reasoned judgments of the Second Circuit, without one sentence questioning the validity or wisdom of those judgments. Although the Court absolved Fox on a technicality, its opinion appears to reflect a post-modern approach to First Amendment jurisprudence concerning broadcast speech, whereby neither precedent nor principle control outcomes. This indulgent approach to a government censorship bureau appears to acquiesce in an unconfined, unprincipled, and unwarranted seizure of regulatory power by the FCC. The Fox opinion thus compounds and enables a grave regulatory failure; whether any sound broadcast indecency policy or legal regime is feasible is perhaps debatable, but the Federal Communications Commission is wholly incapable of administering such a regime.
The lecture will be preceded by a short introduction by Fernando Laguarda, Vice President of External Affairs and Policy Counsel for Time Warner Cable. Admission is free but seating is limited. Please RSVP on the online form or simply email iep.gmu@gmail.com. For more information about IEP and directions, please visit www.iep.gmu.edu.
