Thursday, June 21, 2012

Supreme Court rulings against FCC and SEIU

A couple of rulings were handed down from the High Court this morning. The first decision was against the overreaching federal bureaucracy of the FCC...

FoxNews: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the FCC's policy regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast television.

In an 8-0 decision, the high court threw out fines and sanctions imposed by the Federal Communications Commission. The case involved some uncensored curse words and brief nudity on various networks, including Fox.

"Because the FCC failed to give FOX or ABC fair notice prior to the broadcasts in question that fleeting expletives and momentary nudity could be found actionably indecent, the Commissions' standards as applied to these broadcasts were vague," the Supreme Court said in its opinion.

The court said the FCC is "free to modify its current indecency policy" in light of the ruling.

The second came in a ruling against the SEIU, providing another blow to Big Labor after Scott Walker's Wisconsin win...

FoxNews: The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that unions must give nonmembers an immediate chance to object to unexpected fee increases or special assessments that all workers are required to pay in closed-shop situations.

The court ruled for Dianne Knox and other nonmembers of the Service Employees International Union's Local 1000, who wanted to object and opt out of a $12 million special assessment the union required from its California public sector members for political campaigning. Knox and others said the union did not give them a legally required notice that the increase was coming.

The union, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the annual notice that the union gives was sufficient. The high court disagreed in a 7-2 judgment written by Justice Samuel Alito.

"When a public-sector union imposes a special assessment or dues increase, the union must provide a fresh ... notice and may not exact any funds from nonmembers without their affirmative consent," Alito said.

With both decisions, the Supreme Court followed the rule of law (over fiat) and rightfully clipped these wings of Big Government. Could this be a preview to a few more anticipated decisions to be handed down? I'm of course referring to the fate of both the Arizona illegal immigration law and the constitutionality (or lack thereof) of Obamacare. Whose to say, but it looks like the Court will wait until next week to hand down those rulings.