5th Circuit Axes FCC's Broadcast Workforce Data Collection Requirement
The FCC lacks statutory authority to require that most broadcasters gather and report data about their employees' race, ethnicity and gender, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday, backing a petition from the National Religious Broadcasters, Texas Association…
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of Broadcasters and American Family Association challenging the agency order. "While its authority to act in the public interest is broad, the FCC cannot invoke public interest to expand the scope of its authority to act in ways Congress has not authorized it to act," Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, Edith Jones and Carl Stewart said in a 19-page decision (docket 24-18) written by Elrod. The judges said that since the agency lacked the authority, the court wouldn't decide on the petitioners' arguments that the agency was violating broadcasters' First and Fifth Amendment rights or that the FCC was acting in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.