Janet Jackson's boob bounced it's way into television lore with it's mostly naked appearance on prime time national television at Super Bowl 38 when Justin Timberlake "inadvertently" released it from its leather covering way back in 2004. You'll recall that the FCC fined CBS $500,000 for the display. Since then, a notable music historian and critic has deemed the incident one of the top "resonant" moments in live music performance history (yes, I'm taking some editorial license with the term "notable" here).

Today, Janet's twins are making as much news as Angelina Jolie's because the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which sits in Philadelphia, has thrown out the fines levied when Jackson's "bare right breast was exposed on camera for nine-sixteenths of one second." A federal appeals court may set aside FCC fines when it finds that the penalties imposed were "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law." In other words, it'll smack down those claiming to enforce the law if they in fact don't properly follow the law when doing so.

In addition to doing just that, the Court gives an interesting history of "decency" enforcement (read it here) and I can tell you from experience that it is a law clerk's (young attorneys who work directly for a Judge) dream to work on a Court opinion that not only let's you think about Janet Jackson's boobs all day, but also allows you to study George Carlin and see very serious Federal Judges thinking about artistic works like the Puppetry of the Penis.

CBS is not entirely out of the woods as the Court sent the matter back to the FCC for further consideration. But for now, the fine is gone and Janet's right breast gets another fifteen minutes of fame.

Labels: Justin Timberlake