Don Imus is back in the news. He is suing CBS for breach of contract, a breach worth $40 million. Martin Garbus is on the case and it does look like a very good one to me. Garbus is touting Imus was selected for the job he held because of his irreverent and controversial style. The company hired him to make comments like the ones he was fired for. Imus’ contract with CBS stated he was to be given a warning before being fired for “going over the line”. Now it looks like a court will decide if CBS upheld their end of the contract by giving Imus a warning before he made his disparaging remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

Now what about the “seven-second delay”? Does CBS not have some responsibility in the decision to let the comment go on the air? Since the Janet Jackson performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII and consequently the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 I thought all “live” programs were censored of profanity and indecency by the delay. It was not Don Imus’ job to have the final say in which words were to be broadcast.

Martin Garbus is a distinguished First Amendment lawyer. His arguments on behalf of Don Imus are brilliant. This is an offensive attack on defending Imus’ reputation and job at CBS. Did Don Imus have a First Amendment right to be wrong? It should be interesting to see how this plays out in the courts.

Sources: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=3135895&page=2

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=3139590

J. Hernandez blogs at http://www.jensview.com Interested readers can email her at jensvufrombr@cox.net