Ninth Circuit en banc reverses 2012 panel decision, restores prohibition against "issue advertising" on NCE stations.
We all know that noncommercial (NCE) broadcasting stations are just that - NONcommercial. Section 399b of the Communications Act forbids them from accepting advertising on behalf of for-profit operations; it also forbids advertising both for political candidates and for expressing the advertiser's views on any matter of public importance. (The difference between the latter two? Think "Vote for John Smith" vs. "America's farmers are its backbone".)
As we reported back in 2012, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit tossed that last two prohibition (i.e., the ones against political and issue advertising).
That wasn't the end of the matter. As we thought it might, the FCC asked the Ninth Circuit en banc to take another look at the case. And now the 11-judge court sitting en banc has restored (by an 8-3 vote) the prohibitions against political and issue advertising.
But there's reason to believe that the case may not be over yet.
Continued:
Comment: "Out west" means the states and territories subject to the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, CNMI, Oregon, and Washington).
The decision does not apply to any state anywhere else.
Neal McLain