The Supreme Court excused the broadcasters from paying fines levied for what the FCC had determined indecency, in a majority opinion delivered by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The case entered the Supreme Court's docket in October 2007 and specifically concerns obscene language broadcast on the Fox television network from two Billboard Music Awards shows occurring in 2002 and 2003.

"[3][4] In 2004, after those incidents and another incident in January 2003 involving NBC and the 2003 Golden Globes, where U2 lead singer Bono called the band's win for Best Original Song "really, really, fucking brilliant" in his acceptance speech, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) changed its rules on expletives to prohibit "single uses of vulgar words" under any circumstances, including previous instances where it gave leeway for "fleeting" expletives that networks unknowingly allowed to enter the airwaves.

To place any discussion of these vast topics at the broadcaster's peril has the effect of promoting wide self-censorship of valuable material which should be completely protected under the First Amendment."

[11] Ginsburg authored a one-paragraph concurrence in which she agreed with the decision, but argued that the Supreme Court should have revisited Pacifica, as she felt it was "wrong when it was issued".