Red Lion Brioadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 2 – 3, 1969 Decided June 25, 1969
Full case name: Red Lion Broadcasting Company, Incorporated, et al. v. Federal Communications Commission, et al. Citations: 395 U.S. 367; 89 S. Ct. 1794; 23 L. Ed. 2d 371; 1974 U.S. LEXIS 88; 1 Media L. Rep. 2053 Prior history: Motion to dismiss denied, 306 F. Supp. 310 (N.D. Ill. 1969); judgment for plaintiff, N.D. Ill.; judgment set aside, judgment for defendant, 322 F. Supp. 997 (N.D. Ill. 1970); affirmed, 471 F.2d 801 (7th Cir. 1972); rehearing denied, 7th Circuit, 9-7-72; cert. granted, 410 U.S. 925 (1973) Subsequent history: Retrial on remand, judgment for plaintiff, N.D. Ill.; affirmed, 680 F.2d 527 (7th Cir. 1982); certiorari denied, 459 U.S. 1226 (1983)
Holding
The First Amendment permits federal agency to formulate rules to allow persons defamed or potentially defamed access to equal time to respond and fairness standard for editorial speech by broadcast radio stations. Seventh Circuit reversed.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Earl Warren Associate Justices: Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, John Marshall Harlan II, William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Abe Fortas, Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Majority by: White Joined by: Warren, Black, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall Douglas took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission, 395 U.S. 367 (1969), established the doctrine that broadcast television (and by logical extension, radio) are full First Amendment speakers whose editorial speech could not be regulated absent good reason. However, because they were granted government licenses on a scarce radio spectrum, they could be regulated to preserve openness in covering news by the FCC. Image File history File links Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court. ... The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... A legal motion is a procedural device in law to bring a limited but contested matter before a court for decision. ... The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is comprised of the following counties, divided into two divisions: The eastern division: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Lake, and Will counties. ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of Illinois Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin The court is based at the Dirksen... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ... Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was a California district attorney of Alameda County, the 30th Governor of California, and the 14th Chief Justice of the United States (from 1953 to 1969). ... Hugo Black Hugo LaFayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1937 - 1971). ... William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898 – January 19, 1980) was a United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. ... John Marshall Harlan II (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... William J. Brennan, official portrait, 1976. ... Justice Potter Stewart Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... Byron White, official portrait. ... Abe Fortas Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 - April 5, 1982) was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice. ... Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. ... The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... // Case citation is the system used in common law countries such as the United States, England and Wales, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and India to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters or law reports. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ...

The FCC by administrative rulemaking added the requirement that discussion of public issues be presented on broadcast stations, and that each side of those issues must be given fair coverage 395 U.S. 367, 369. Therefore they added an equal time rule and another response to personal attack rule. The station challenge these rules as unconstiutuionally infringing on the speech of the station's editorial judgement. Justice Byron White, writing for the majority the FCC has included among the conditions of the Red Lion license itself the requirement that operation of the station be carried out in the public interest. Id. at 380.