I love the way people think the Constitution matters any more.
The constitution is a piece of paper. Laws set and rights granted by the Constitution require people to actually enforce and uphold them. If there is nobody willing or able to enforce and uphold them, then it carries about as much weight and gravity as a mattress tag.
If Trump says he wants to revoke your broadcast license, and the FCC says it’s going to revoke your broadcast license, and the Trump-friendly Supreme Court says they can revoke your broadcast license, then you don’t have a broadcast license. Full stop. Sure, you can say you have 1st amendment protections, but if the people tasked with upholding those protections are falling in line behind Trump (spoiler alert: They are), then you might as well be preaching about your 1st amendment protections to pigeons in the park for all the good that’s going to do for you.
Going the next step, FCC licenses only have as their paper. If people want to broadcast, the only thing stopping them will be their own grit against whatever the gov’t wants to throw at them, be it a few lawyers or SWAT teams.
Sure they do… The courts can take away their enforcement powers
Say the FCC revokes your license and the courts rule they couldn’t. They can fine you all day, but if they don’t have the right, you can ignore it or get it thrown out in a lower court. If they come in and break your equipment, you can sue them. We have a right to a redress of grievances
Sure they do. Once revoked they can keep broadcasting. They get fined… they take that to court. If the court doesn’t uphold the fine, they don’t have to pay it.
Even when you’re totally innocent it costs money to fight a claim or indictment. I have a strong suspicion there will be a record level of government spending on lawsuits in the next 4 years.
Sure… but what else is a network without a license to broadcast going to do with all it’s money. Though really, all they have to do is keep broadcasting. The feds will probably have to sue them.
I love the way people think the Constitution matters any more.
The constitution is a piece of paper. Laws set and rights granted by the Constitution require people to actually enforce and uphold them. If there is nobody willing or able to enforce and uphold them, then it carries about as much weight and gravity as a mattress tag.
If Trump says he wants to revoke your broadcast license, and the FCC says it’s going to revoke your broadcast license, and the Trump-friendly Supreme Court says they can revoke your broadcast license, then you don’t have a broadcast license. Full stop. Sure, you can say you have 1st amendment protections, but if the people tasked with upholding those protections are falling in line behind Trump (spoiler alert: They are), then you might as well be preaching about your 1st amendment protections to pigeons in the park for all the good that’s going to do for you.
The FCC doesn’t matter if the document that founds its source of power and force doesn’t matter.
Going the next step, FCC licenses only have as their paper. If people want to broadcast, the only thing stopping them will be their own grit against whatever the gov’t wants to throw at them, be it a few lawyers or SWAT teams.
Even if the court says they can’t revoke, the court has no power to stop them.
Sure they do… The courts can take away their enforcement powers
Say the FCC revokes your license and the courts rule they couldn’t. They can fine you all day, but if they don’t have the right, you can ignore it or get it thrown out in a lower court. If they come in and break your equipment, you can sue them. We have a right to a redress of grievances
The problem is, the courts are in a bad state
Sure they do. Once revoked they can keep broadcasting. They get fined… they take that to court. If the court doesn’t uphold the fine, they don’t have to pay it.
Even when you’re totally innocent it costs money to fight a claim or indictment. I have a strong suspicion there will be a record level of government spending on lawsuits in the next 4 years.
Sure… but what else is a network without a license to broadcast going to do with all it’s money. Though really, all they have to do is keep broadcasting. The feds will probably have to sue them.
If the lawsuit is shit you must aquit.
The world would be a much better place if that (and the inverse) was true…