Cert Petition Says Singer’s Wardrobe Malfunction Set Public Nudity Record

The government is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court decision striking down a broadcast fine for Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during a Super Bowl halftime show.

The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed a half-million-dollar indecency fine in the case in July, saying the Federal Communications Commission deviated from past policy and was arbitrary and capricious. The cert petition calls the brief exposure of Janet Jackson’s breast “the most widely viewed broadcast of public nudity in television history,” SCOTUSblog reports.

The solicitor general asks the court to hold the petition until the justices issue a decision in another pending case on FCC power to fine, this one involving “fleeting expletives” uttered by celebrities in live broadcasts, according to SCOTUSblog. After that, the government says, the cert petition should be granted for oral argument or remanded for further review.