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FCC Takes Janet Jackson 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Case to Supreme Court

Commission claims circuit courts were wrong to deem their policies 'arbitrary and capricious'

April 18, 2012 2:35 PM ET
janet jackson
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake immediately after the 'wardrobe malfunction' during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The Federal Communications Commission filed an appeal to the Supreme Court yesterday requesting a review of a decision to throw out the agency's $550,000 fine against CBS over Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" incident at the Super Bowl in 2004, Politico reports.

According to Multichannel News, the FCC has requested that the court hold the case until it has ruled on the commission's challenge of another indecency filing against Fox for profanity on an awards show. The Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on that case within the next few months.

The FCC is arguing that the Second Circuit court was wrong to deem their fleeting images' indecency policy to be "arbitrary and capricious," and that by misinterpreting their policy, the court "contravened settled principles governing the deference due to an administrative agency's reasonable understanding of its own decisions." The Third Circuit denied a rehearing of the case back in January.

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