How George Carlin Made Legal History

How George Carlin Made Legal History

Robert Anton Wilson
from Quantum Psychology

Here is an interesting article by Robert Anton Wilson about the concept of why certain words are considered "dirty" and others are not. This subject has been somewhat fascinating to me ever since I started working in broadcasting. It was of particular relevance when I started supervising college student radio announcers.

WARNING: Contains dirty words.

"One cannot dismiss this mystery as trivial. When comedian George Carlin made a record ("Occupation: Foole") discussing, among other things, "The seven words you can never say on television," WBAI radio (New York) played the record, and received a fine so heavy that, although the incident occurred in 1973, WBAI, a small listener-sponsored station, recently announced (1990) that they have not yet paid all their legal costs in fighting the case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Eight Wise Men (and One Wise Woman) thereon upheld the Federal Communications Commission.

The highest court in the land has actually ruled on what comedians may and may not joke about. George Carlin has become something more than a comedian. He now has the status of a Legal Precedent."
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Here is a link to information on Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation; the supreme court case referenced in all of this.

Here is a link to the text of the ruling.

Keep in mind: I studied this in college.