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The Third Circuit has taken the unusual, but pointedly not unprecedented step, of giving both sides in the CBS v. FCC case -- Janet Jackson's Super Bowl halftime show fine -- five minutes at the outset to lay out their cases uninterrupted in oral arguments Feb. 23.
That's not unprecedented because that is how the court set up initial oral arguments in the case involving the FCC's $550,000 fine of 20 CBS stations for airing the reveal.
The court initially found the FCC's fleeting nudity policy to be an arbitrary and capricious change from past policies. But the Supreme Court remanded that decision back to the court after ruling in teh Fox v. FCC case that its fleeting profanity policy had been sufficiently justified.
In most arguments, the judges can interrupt from the outset, and sometimes do so within seconds of a laywer starting to make his or her case. But in a note Friday to the attorneys involved, the court clerk said that the 30 minutes per side would be divided up into five minutes of "uninterrupted time" for each side followed by 25 minutes of open questioning from the judges.
That extra time may be needed to tee up the issues, which involve not only procedural and First Amendment arguments, but ones related to the impact of the Supreme Court remand of the case.
The Third Circuit sought briefs last month on what impact the Supreme Court's decision -- upholding the FCC's defense of its fleeting indecency policy -- had on the Third Circuit's original ruling that the commission had been arbitrary and capricious.
That's not unprecedented because that is how the court set up initial oral arguments in the case involving the FCC's $550,000 fine of 20 CBS stations for airing the reveal.
The court initially found the FCC's fleeting nudity policy to be an arbitrary and capricious change from past policies. But the Supreme Court remanded that decision back to the court after ruling in teh Fox v. FCC case that its fleeting profanity policy had been sufficiently justified.
In most arguments, the judges can interrupt from the outset, and sometimes do so within seconds of a laywer starting to make his or her case. But in a note Friday to the attorneys involved, the court clerk said that the 30 minutes per side would be divided up into five minutes of "uninterrupted time" for each side followed by 25 minutes of open questioning from the judges.
That extra time may be needed to tee up the issues, which involve not only procedural and First Amendment arguments, but ones related to the impact of the Supreme Court remand of the case.
The Third Circuit sought briefs last month on what impact the Supreme Court's decision -- upholding the FCC's defense of its fleeting indecency policy -- had on the Third Circuit's original ruling that the commission had been arbitrary and capricious.