Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC

Related Cases and Precedents set

Relative Importance

• Cases
• FCC v. League of Women Voters
• Meredith Corp. v. FCC
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo
• Precedents
• fairness doctrine enhanced the rights of the first amendment
• set the standards to the decisions of the FCC

Why it was a landmark case

• Highlighted the meaning of the first amendment
• the demand to allow equal time for both sides of public discussions was constitutional
• Redefined the federal government's say in what people see and watch
• The case went a long way toward giving legal support to the idea that the FCC has a right to impose conditions on broadcasters

Question

Red Lion Company v. FCC

Does the FCC's fairness doctrine regulations, concerning personal attacks made in the context of public issue debates and political editorializing, violate the First Amendment's freedom of speech guarantees?

Brief Case Summary

Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo

• Red Lion Broadcasting Company, 1969
• licensed to operate a Pennsylvania radio station, WGCB
• November 17, 1964 held a 15-minute broadcast by Reverend Billy Jean Hargis as part of a "Christian Crusade" series
• Reverend Hargis critisized author Fred Cook for supporting a communist-based publication
• Cook heard of the broadcast and claimed that he had been personally attacked, so he demanded reply time
• FCC ruled the attack on Cook valid and that Red Lion had failed to meet its obligation under the fairness doctrine to send a tape, transcript, or summary of the broadcast to Cook and offer him reply time
• On review for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the FCC's claim was upheld as constitutional

• Summary
• Pat Tornillo was Executive Director of the Classroom Teachers Association and a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives
• The Miami Herald published two editorials criticizing Tornillo and his candidacy
• Tornillo demanded that the Miami Herald publish his responses to the editorials
• Miami Herald refused, and Tornillo sued
• Decision
• Dissent
• Tornillo argued that the Florida statute granted political candidates criticized by any newspaper the right to have their responses to the criticisms published
• The Herald challenged the statute as a violation of the free press clause of the First Amendment

Legal Debate

Precedents and Related Cases

Supreme Court Ruling

• The Circuit Court ruled that the statute was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Florida reversed this decision
• Unanimous decision
• 9 votes for Miami Herald Publishing Company, 0 votes against
• held that Florida's "right to reply" statute violated the freedom of press found in the First Amendment

• Precedent used
• decided on the basis of New York Times v. Sullivan in that the "right to reply" statute "limits the variety of public debate," and was therefore unconstitutional
• Related Cases
• FCC v. League of Women Voters
• Meredith Corp. v. FCC
• Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC

• Dissent
• Red Lion Broadcasting Company challenged the FCC's claim as unconstitutional
• infringed on freedom of speech and press
• First Amendment protects their desire to use their given frequencies continuously to broadcast and/or exclude whatever they choose
• Supreme Court Majority
• Court upheld that the fairness doctrine was consistent with the First Amendment

• Ruling
• 7 - 0 vote
• argued that the FCC's fairness doctrine regulations enhanced rather than infringed the freedoms of speech protected under the First Amendment

Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC

Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo