The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Jerry Szoka and GRID Radio, an unlicensed microradio station in Cleveland, Ohio who’s been sparring with the FCC since 1998 and went off the air after receiving a federal court injunction in 2000.
This is the second microradio case to be declined recently by the Supremes; the first was Minneapolis’ Beat Radio, whose petition for certiorari was turned away last year.
Szoka’s case had lots of momentum in Cleveland but not much in the courts – this setback is just the last in a long string. Fortunately, there are several other microradio cases working their way through the judicial system, and like most efforts at reforming the law through the courts, it takes multiple attempts before getting a ruling that sticks.
In other enforcement news, the FCC has been busy (again) in Florida, apparently conducting at least one station visit and issuing at least one Notice of Apparent Liability within the last month or so. The Enforcement Action Database should reflect the updated info later this week.
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