Early this year, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Federal Communications Commission, et al. v. Fox Television Stations Inc., et al. on whether FCC standards for indecency on television violated the First or Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Surely this would not occur to a sophisticated lawyer, but I immediately thought of the seminal comedy routine performed by George Carlin about the seven words you can never say on television. Those words are. . . .