Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., et al. v. Federal Communications Commission et al. (512 U.S. 622)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 27, 1994 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 512 U.S. 622 · 114 S. Ct. 2445
- Decided
- June 27, 1994
- Term
- October Term 1993
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court, except as to Part III-B. Sections 4 and 5 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 require cable television systems to devote a portion of their channels to the transmission of local broadcast television stations. This case presents the question whether these provisions abridge the freedom of speech or of the press, in violation of the First Amendment. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment for the United States, holding that the challenged provisions are consistent with the First Amendment. Because issues of material fact remain unresolved in the record as developed thus far, we vacate the District Court’s judgment and remand the case for further proceedings. I A The role of cable television in the Nation’s communications system has undergone dramatic change over the past 45 years. Given the pace of technological advancement and the increasing convergence between cable and other electronic media, the cable industry today stands at the center of an ongoing telecommunications revolution with still undefined potential to affect the way we communicate and develop our intellectual resources. The earliest cable' systems were built in the late 1940’s to bring clear broadcast television signals to remote or…
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