Court Decides Carlin Routine Not Fit for Air

The Supreme Court last week backed the Federal Communications Commission and banned the broadcast of comedian George Carlin's routine on "Filthy Words."

In the majority opinion, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens said he did not consider the "reference to excretory and sexual organs and activities" as obscene. Instead, he termed it as "patently offensive" in a broadcast media that "excercises a uniquely pervasive presence in the lives of all Americans."

The words are: shit, piss, cunt, fuck, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits.

"It is absurd to think of words as being indecent and immoral," Carlin said last night. "Those are qualities that only people can possess. Words are merely symbols and, as such, cannot harm us," he added.

WBAI, the New York station cited by the FCC case for airing the routine, sided with Carlin, saying that the decision unfairly placed radio and T.V. in a different category than print media as far as the First Amendment is concerned.

Alan M. Dershowitz, professor of Law, said yesterday he disapproves of the decision, but said he could understand the Supreme Court's reasoning. "It is arbitrary, but justified; there are only a limited number of airways for radio and T.V. communication, whereas there is theoretically an unlimited supply of newspapers."