Capital Cities Cable Inc. v. Crisp

467 U.S. 691 (1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

An Oklahoma statute directs Oklahoma television cable companies to block out-of-state advertisements and marketing of alcoholic beverages. The Petitioner asserts that this statute infringes both the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as a FCC regulation which prohibits promulgation of state regulations that involve the control of television communication signals. However, the state asserts that this regulation should withstand FCC preemption because the law was enacted based on the state power enumerated in the Twenty-First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Court of Appeals held in favor of the Petitioner - Capital Cities Cable. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed; its opinion addressed the FCC violation without engaging the constitutional question.