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December 2, 2008 10:33:29 PM CST


indecency

indecency news stories

12 Stories

Brits Sentenced for 
Dubai Beach Sex

Vacationing couple slapped with 3-month sentences for sand snuggle

(Newser) - A British couple has been slapped with a three-month sentence for a drunken roll in the sand on a Dubai beach, the Guardian reports. Prosecutors say the pair—an expatriate woman and a visiting businessman—were spotted having sex on the beach after meeting each other at a champagne brunch that afternoon. The woman insists they were merely kissing and hugging. More »

More about:  sex Dubai beach United Arab Emirates indecency public sex

 Court Tosses Super Bowl Fine 

Federal panel says FCC acted capriciously with $550K penalty

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today threw out the FCC $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s infamous 2004 “wardrobe malfunction.” The decency watchdogs were found to have acted arbitrarily in changing their policy of not punishing fleeting nudity, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The court separately said the network couldn’t be held "vicariously liable" for the halftime breast-baring—that is, liable for something it didn't plan and could not foresee. More »

More about:  television FCC nudity Justin Timberlake Janet Jackson indecency wardrobe malfunction

Justice Dept. Sues Fox
Over Raunchy
Reality Show

Latest round in indecency battle

(Newser) - The Justice Department has stepped in to force Fox to pay up $56,000 in indecency fines levied by the FCC but challenged by the broadcaster, Variety reports. Eight Fox-owned stations are being sued to collect fines for a 2003 episode of "Married by America" that featured men at a bachelor party licking whipped cream off topless strippers. More »

More about:  television Department of Justice FCC reality TV Fox broadcasting indecency

Fox Thumbs Nose at $91K FCC Fine

Calls indecency ruling on strippers 'arbitrary and capricious'

(Newser) - Think strippers and whipped cream is indecent? Pshaw, says Fox, which wants the FCC to drop a $91,000 indecency fine for a 2003 episode of “Married by America” in which contestants at rowdy parties licked whipped cream off topless strippers. The network originally was fined $1.2 million, reports Bloomberg, but the FCC decided to impose $7,000 fines only on the 13 stations that received complaints. More »

More about:  FCC Fox indecency stripper

 Supremes to Weigh
 On-Air Swearing 

Fox battles the FCC in next big court case

(Newser) - The Supreme Court might take up a gavel in one hand and a bar of soap in the other next term, when it considers a case challenging the FCC’s “fleeting utterances” standards, it announced today. The FCC is appealing a lower-court ruling—which arose when Cher dropped an F-bomb during a 2002 Fox broadcast—that it has failed to “articulate a reasoned basis” for the rules. More »

More about:  television US Supreme Court FCC CBS Fox constitutionality Janet Jackson indecency profanity wardrobe malfunction swearing

ABC Faces
Hefty FCC Fine for Bare Bottom

Stiff penalty a sign that group is reviving its anti-indecency crusade

(Newser) - The airing of a woman’s bare bottom almost five years ago could cost ABC $1.43 million, if the FCC gets its way. The media watchdog levied the maximum penalty last night against the Disney-owned broadcaster for a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue . The stiff penalty is a sign the FCC’s anti-indecency initiative is back in full force, the Hollywood Reporter says. More »

More about:  television FCC ABC First Amendment indecency NYPD Blue

'Wardrobe Malfunction' Busts Into Court

CBS challenges FCC
fine for Jackson Super Bowl mishap

(Newser) - Almost 4 years after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show, a federal appeals court is being asked to decide whether the incident was indecent or a fluke. The FCC fined CBS $550,000; the network argues the penalty is out of line. It's also having a "deeply censorious effect" on American broadcasting, said a CBS attorney. More »

More about:  FCC CBS Justin Timberlake Janet Jackson indecency wardrobe malfunction

Short Skirt Doesn't Fly
at Southwest

'Family' airline asked co-ed to change
out of revealing attire

(Newser) - A San Diego co-ed (and Hooters employee) nearly got kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for showing too much skin. A  flight attendant called Kyla Ebbert to the front of the plane and asked her to change out of her 'revealing attire' or take a later flight. Ebbert brokered a compromise and remained aboard, but now she may sue Southwest over the ordeal, ABC reports. More »

More about:  airline Southwest Airlines clothes indecency Today Show Kyla Ebbert

Letting It All Hang Out? Bill Would Put It All Back In

Atlanta proposal calls saggy pants "major concern;" ACLU claims "racial profiling"

(Newser) - Young men will want to hike up their sagging pants, and women cover up bra straps and exposed thongs if Atlanta’s City Council adopts a proposal to amend the city’s indecency laws, the Journal-Constitution reports. The measure, which would fine violators for exposing boxer shorts, thongs and bras, is discriminatory and won't stand up in court, the ACLU warns. More »

More about:  Louisiana hip-hop Atlanta culture First Amendment ACLU indecency pants dress code Delcambre

Bottoms Up!
La. Town Gets Down and Dirty

Ban on saggy pants
hits fashion plates below the belt

(Newser) - In Delcambre, La., showing your skivvies is about to come with criminal consequences, thanks to a new ordinance that prohibits residents from wearing low-hanging pants. Saggy-trousered offenders may be fined $500 and risk 6 months in jail. “They’re better off taking the pants off and just wearing a dress,” the mayor says of the low-riders. More »

More about:  fashion race Louisiana discrimination indecency pants indecent exposure baggy pants Delcambre

Appeals Court Rejects FCC Decency Rules

Broadcasters can't be punished for airing "fleeting expletives" 

(Newser) - Networks that accidentally air profanity got a major break from a US appeals court yesterday when the court  shot down an FCC regulation that punishes them for airing even "fleeting expletives." The court said some of the FCC's indecency rules were "divorced from reality" and sent them back to the agency for clarification. More »

More about:  television FCC censorship Fox Super Bowl appeal Janet Jackson indecency US Appeals court Billboard Music awards Nicole Ritchie Cher

Presidential Peck Sets Off Iranian Sex Scandal

A kiss on the hand lands Ahmadinejad
in hot water with hard-liners

(Newser) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at the center of an unlikely sex scandal today, after being caught on camera kissing the hand—even if it was gloved—of a retired schoolteacher. Ahmadinejad's sexy faux pas, at a ceremony honoring the country's teachers, is a violation of Shariah law, hard-liners say. More »

More about:  Iran scandals Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sex sex scandal women's rights Islamic Sharia law indecency

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