The Department of Justice has told a court that it will not be continuing its suit against Fox over Fox’s decision not to pay indecency fines relating to a 2003 episode of the reality show “Married by America.” The episode in question showed pixelated nudity.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) originally had proposed a fine of $1.18 million against all 169 Fox-affiliated stations, but scaled back the fine to apply only to stations that had been the subject of indecency complaints for airing the episode. Several broadcasters paid the fine, but Fox and several other broadcasters refused to pay, arguing that the FCC’s enforcement action was “arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent with precedent and patently unconstitutional.”
After the DOJ’s recent decision to drop the case, Fox announced that “we plan to urge the FCC to dismiss its underlying forfeiture order in this case, a move that will ensure that the Fox affiliates who paid the fine upfront do not unfairly suffer any negative consequences related to their broadcast licenses in the future.”