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In case you were wondering...

Defining character is one of the grayest of gray areas, exactly the kind of thing most people think is best left out of the hands of any government, no matter how enlightened that government may be. Yet, the FCC is required by law to assure that its licensees have "basic requisite character qualifications to be and remain a Commission licensee."

Thus we come to the case of Roger Thomas Scaggs, an amateur radio licensee. His last renewal was in 1998. Another event of 1998, an event of 11/28/98 to be precise, was Scagg's conviction for the 3/6/96 murder of his wife. As a result of the conviction, Scaggs has been sentenced to 32 years behind bars and a $10K fine. And now, the FCC has determined that Scaggs is of such questionable character as to be unfit to be a licensee.

As the Commission puts it, "The Commission's character policies provide that any felony conviction is a matter predictive of licensee behavior and is directly relevant to the functioning of the Commission's regulatory mission. The extremely serious conviction described above mandates the conclusion that Mr. Scaggs does not possess the requisite qualifications to be or remain a Commission licensee."

RBR observation:

We quite agree with the FCC's stance on this case. We note in passing, however, that had Scaggs contented himself with the use of harsh over-the-air language as a substitute for physical violence, he may well have saved himself some hard time. And just as likely would have had to pay a much bigger fine - - go ask Howard Stern!