Politics & Government

High Court Blocks Ban on Sale of Violent Video Games

In a 7-2 vote Monday, the justices throw out a ban that never went into effect in California, citing the First Amendment.

We've all seen the commercials for the latest video game promising bigger explosions, more innovative ways to kill enemies and deadlier weaponry for maximum carnage.

They came under the microscope of state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, who wrote a law in 2005 that would ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

But the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 7-2 vote, struck down the California law on Monday.

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The court majority said the games are protected by the First Amendment right of free speech.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, "Like protected books, plays and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas -- and even social messages.

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"That suffices to confer First Amendment protection," Scalia wrote.

The court ruled in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose in 2005 by two industry groups, the Entertainment Merchants Association and the Entertainment Software Association.

The high court upheld rulings by U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte of San Jose in 2007 and the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco in 2009 that struck down the law.

Lee was an assemblyman in 2005. The law was blocked from going into effect by an injunction issued by Whyte.

Patch would like to know if:

  • You allow your children to play violent video games?
  • Did the court make the right decision?


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