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Sable Communications of California v. FCC

Case Date: 04/19/1989
Docket No: none

Facts of the Case 

In 1988, Congress amended the Communications Act of 1934 to ban indecent and obscene interstate commercial phone messages. Sable Communications had been in the dial-a-porn business since 1983. A judge in District Court upheld the ban on obscene messages, but enjoined the Act's enforcement against indecent ones.

Question 

Did the amended Communications Act violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments?

Argument Sable Communications of California v. FCC - Oral ArgumentFull Transcript Text  Download MP3 Conclusion  Decision: 6 votes for FCC, 3 vote(s) against Legal provision: 47 U.S.C. 223

The Court upheld the District Court's ruling. Since the First Amendment does not protect obscene speech, as the Court found in Paris Adult Theater I v. Slaton (1973), the ban on obscene speech was legitimate. However, sexual expression that is simply indecent is protected. Thus, banning adult access to indecent messages "far exceeds that which is necessary" to shield minors from dial-a-porn services.