Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 512 U.S. 622, 48 (1994)

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Cite as: 512 U. S. 622 (1994)

Opinion of Stevens, J.

Justice Blackmun, concurring.

I join Justice Kennedy's opinion, which aptly identifies and analyzes the First Amendment concerns and principles that should guide consideration of free speech issues in the expanding cable industry. I write to emphasize the paramount importance of according substantial deference to the predictive judgments of Congress, see, e. g., Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U. S. 94, 103 (1973), particularly where, as here, that legislative body has compiled an extensive record in the course of reaching its judgment. Nonetheless, the standard for summary judgment is high, and no less so when First Amendment values are at stake and the issue is of far-reaching importance. Because in this case there remain a few unresolved issues of material fact, a remand is appropriate. The Government had occasion to submit to the District Court only portions of the record developed by Congress. In light of the Court's opinion today, those portions, which were submitted to defeat a motion for summary judgment, are not adequate to support one. The record before the District Court no doubt will benefit from any additional evidence the Government and the other parties now see fit to present.

Justice Stevens, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.

As Justice Kennedy has ably explained, the "overriding congressional purpose" of the challenged must-carry provisions of the 1992 Cable Act is to "guarantee the survival of a medium that has become a vital part of the Nation's communication system," a purpose that is "unrelated to the content of expression." Ante, at 647. The public interests in protecting access to television for the millions of homes without cable and in assuring the availability of "a multiplicity of information sources" are unquestionably substantial. Ante, at 663. The must-carry provisions are amply "justi-

669

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