States May Not Ban Sale, Rental of Violent Videogames to Minors
- By David Kravets
- June 27, 2011 |
- 10:32 am |
- Categories: Censorship, The Courts
The Supreme Court ruled Monday the states may not ban the sale or rental of violent videogames to minors.
The case the justices decided concerned a 2005 California ban adopted by state lawmakers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of San Francisco in 2008 overturned the law, saying there’s not sufficient evidence that violent videogames harm youngsters under 18, and that the games were protected by the First Amendment. The court agreed, ruling 7-2 with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the majority. (.pdf)
“Our cases have been clear that the obscenity exception to the First Amendment does not cover whatever a legislature finds shocking, but only depictions of ’sexual conduct,’” Scalia wrote. He added that the videogame law “abridges the First Amendment rights of young people whose parents (and aunts and uncles) think violent videogames are a harmless pastime.”
Six other states and several local governments had adopted similar bans — which provide for a $1,000 fine for sellers. Every court that has heard a challenge to all these laws has struck them down on First Amendment grounds.
The statutes were premised on a 1968 Supreme Court ruling allowing the states to adopt laws that keep “obscene” sexual content away from kids. However, that ruling in a New York case did not address violent content of video games like Grand Theft Autoand instead dealt with magazines.
“Because speech about violence is not obscene, it is of no consequence that California’s statute mimics the New York statute regulating obscenity-for-minors that we upheld in Ginsberg v. New York … ,” Scalia wrote.
Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Stephen Breyer dissented separately. Thomas wrote that the First Amendment does not grant minors a right “to access speech,” and that the law “is not facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment.”
The latest law before the justices, which reached the court after California appealed the lower court decision, affects games involving “killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being.”
Leland Yee, the California senator from San Francisco who authored the law, blasted the court’s decision.
“Unfortunately, the majority of the Supreme Court once again put the interests of corporate America before the interests of our children,” said Lee, a Democrat.
A host of trade groups, fearing more regulation if the law was upheld, told the justices that the measure was unnecessary because the game makers already voluntarily label their works, and that the games are a “modern form of artistic expression.”
“The motion picture industry is no stranger to governments’ incursion on freedom of expression. From the very inception of the movie industry, attempts to restrict speech have threatened the creativity of American movie-makers,” said Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America. “We applaud the Supreme Court for recognizing the far-reaching First-Amendment implications posed by the California law.”
California argued that minors under 18 have less First Amendment rights than adults. The state told the justices that its lawmakers are “reinforcing parents’ authority to direct the upbringing of children in order to protect their physical and psychological welfare, as well as their ethical and moral development.”
Conservative groups also weighed in, telling the justices that the measure was constitutional because it facilitated parental control over the upbringing of their children.
“Today’s decision is a disappointing one for parents, educators and all who care about kids,” said James Steyer, chairman of Common Sense Media. “But the fight is far from over.”
Here is a link to briefs in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.
See Also:
- Supreme Court Takes On Videogame Sales to Kids
- Addicted Gamer Sues Game-Maker, Says He is ‘Unable to Function’
- Clinton Would Crack Down on Computer-Generated Cartoon Sex
- U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft
- Student Arrested for Jailbreaking Game Consoles — Update
- Bill Maher on Hillary Clinton 3AM Call Of Duty Video Game
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