Community Television of So. Cal. v. Gottfried

In Community Television of So. Cal. v. Gottfried, 459 U.S. 498, 103 S.Ct. 885, 74 L.Ed.2d 705 (1983), the Supreme Court held that the FCC "is not a funding agency and has never been thought to have responsibility for enforcing Sec. 504." 459 U.S. at 509, 103 S.Ct. at 892. Enforcement of section 504 has been committed instead to the federal agencies administering the federal financial assistance programs, Community Television, 459 U.S. at 509, 103 S.Ct. at 892, which, in the case of broadcasters, are principally the Departments of Education and Commerce. See 34 C.F.R. pt. 104 (1987) (Education regulations implementing section 504); 15 C.F.R. Sec. 2301.29(c) (1987) (Commerce enforcement duties assigned to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers facilities grants). In particular, the Supreme Court noted, "there is not a word in the legislative history of the Act suggesting that it was intended to alter the Commission's standard for reviewing ... programming decisions...." Community Television, 459 U.S. at 509-10, 103 S.Ct. at 892.