FCC Petitions Supreme Court to Reinstate Nip Slip Fine

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has decided to continue on with the Janet Jackson nipple case eight years after her infamous wardrobe malfunction incident at the Super Bowl.

Regulators filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday requesting a review of a decision to toss the agency's $550,000 fine against CBS over the incident that exposed Jackson's breast.

The FCC is arguing that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong in its 2008 decision to deem its indecency policy to be "arbitrary and capricious," and that by misinterpreting their policy, the court "contravened settled principles governing the deference due to an administrative agency's reasonable understanding of its own decisions."

Last November a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit reaffirmed the decision, and in January the full court declined to rehear the case.  

The FCC has requested that the court hold the case until it has ruled on another challenge to an indecency filing against Fox for profanity on an awards show. The Supreme Court is expected to decide that case within the next few months.

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