Supremes Won't Air Dirty Laundry

Election Day is likely to inspire swearing in some places and sure to see off-color language in one unlikely locale: the Supreme Court. But the American public will have to wait until next summer to hear tomorrow's oral arguments in a landmark indecency case, FCC vs. Fox, the Justices ruled today. "We are disappointed," a spokesman for C-SPAN, which had pushed for the audiotape release, tells Broadcasting & Cable.

The case concerns a lower court's ruling that the FCC's arbitrarily enforced its rule against "fleeting expletives"—notably when Bono crossed the line during a music awards show—virtually requiring that lawyers for both sides swear a blue streak. The court today heard oral arguments in Wyeth v. Levine. The pharmaceutical company lost a $7.3 million judgment against a musician whose forearm was amputated as the result of side effects from a migraine drug.