• March 11, 2003

The Federal Communications Commission has refused to hear an appeal by a Memphis, Tenn., man who said NBC’s “The West Wing” violated FCC rules regulating the broadcast of profane material. Randy Sharp says the FCC should fine Raycom America Inc., which operates the Memphis NBC affiliate, WMC-TV. Sharp protested the September 19, 2001 episode entitled “Two Cathedrals.” During the episode, the show’s character President Bartlet, while alone in a church, reflects aloud on his “personal struggles and growth” during an impassioned lament to God. Sharp alleges that the show’s character, President Bartlet, uttered profanity by cursing God, saying “[To] hell with your punishments! To hell with you!” However, citing the show’s script, Raycom says the phrases were actually spoken in Latin, not English: “cruciatus in crucem, eas in crucem,” which literally mean “send your torments to the cross” and “may you go to the cross.” Last April, the FCC rejected Sharp’s complaint, and ruling on Sharp’s appeal this week, it sided with Raycom a second time. “We find no merit to Sharp’s complaint,” ruled the FCC. He could still appeal to the courts, but that may be difficult. The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a state statute banning “sacrilegious” movies as violations of the First and Fourteenth amendments.