ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602210042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Supreme Court will decide an issue that could mean life or death for many small television stations: whether Congress can force cable systems to carry local broadcast signals.
Cable TV companies say the 1992 ``must carry'' law violates their constitutionally protected right to free speech. They argue the law gives broadcasters an unfair advantage over other programmers competing for cable space.
But the Clinton administration says the law is needed to keep small independent and public stations from being driven out of business.
Returning from a four-week recess Tuesday, the court also let stand government-imposed limits on cable rates that have saved customers several billion dollars since 1992. The justices refused to hear Time Warner Entertainment Co.'s argument that the resulting 17-percent rate cut violated cable companies' right to free speech.
On another subject, the court heard arguments on whether two former Los Angeles police officers can avoid serving additional time behind bars for their part in the 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney King.
The justices also issued orders in more than 500 cases. They:
Turned away a ``right to die'' dispute in which a Michigan woman sought to end life-sustaining medical treatment for her husband, who was left permanently incapacitated after a car accident.
Agreed to use a California case to clarify when the government can deport some immigrants who entered the country through fraud.
Let Colorado keep a monument engraved with the Ten Commandments in a public park near the Capitol. The Freedom From Religion Foundation had argued that the display violated the constitutionally required separation of government and religion.
As for cable TV, more than 60 percent of American households subscribe, and there is heavy competition for channel space on cable systems.
The must-carry provision of the 1992 cable TV law requires cable operators to set aside some of their channels for commercial and public broadcast stations.
Congress enacted the requirement because smaller, independent broadcasters not affiliated with networks feared cable companies would drop them. They then could lose advertising and face going out of business.
Turner Broadcasting System and other cable companies challenged the law, saying it improperly gives broadcasters ``a unique, favored position'' among those competing for cable channels.
A three-judge federal court upheld the law in 1993 and again last December after the Supreme Court ordered further study.
The high court said the law could not ``burden substantially more speech than is necessary'' to further the government's goal of preserving broadcasters' access to cable systems.
The court is expected to hear arguments this fall and issue a decision by mid-1997.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB