Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140102
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Opponents of a 1992 cable law that aims to restrict indecent programs on such channels say it will encourage censorship in violation of the First Amendment.
A decision upholding the measure could spur Congress to impose further restrictions on indecency, perhaps on commercial cable television channels or online computer services, said I. Michael Greenberger, attorney for local program producers and viewers challenging the 1992 law.
Congress enacted the measure proposed by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., following complaints about lewd programs on some leased-access channels.
The government says indecent programs depict or describe ``sexual or excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner,'' based on contemporary community standards.
Indecent material is protected by the First Amendment, while programs judged obscene have no free-speech protection.
In other action Monday, the court:
Agreed to study the case of a North Carolina man fired after his supervisor said he was too old ``for this kind of work.'' The man was fired at age 56 and replaced with a 40-year-old.
Turned down an appeal by a lesbian mother seeking to prevent her former lover from having any place in her 6-year-old son's life. A Wisconsin court is allowing the ex-lover to seek visitation rights.
Kept alive a Michigan lawsuit by families seeking damages because corneas or eyeballs were removed from recently deceased relatives without family consent.
The cable television law applies to channels that cable companies lease to local groups, as well as those set aside for public, educational and government access. Commercial channels such as HBO and USA Network are not affected.
Before 1992, cable TV systems could not bar indecent programs from leased-access and public-access channels, and they were protected from liability for any programs that crossed the line into obscenity.
Cable companies provided lock boxes so subscribers could block channels they did not want to see.
The 1992 law allows cable companies to bar indecent material from public-access or leased-access channels. Companies that decide to show indecent programs must separate them on blocked channels that can be unblocked only on a subscriber's written request.
The law, which has not taken effect pending the legal challenge to it, also makes cable companies liable for any programs that violate obscenity laws.
The full U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the law last June.
by CNB