California video game law struck down
A law which sought to ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors was struck down on Friday by a Federal appeals court, extending a long-time video game controversy.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law, which was passed in 2005, violates the rights of minors under the United States Constitution’s 1st and 14th amendments. This latest unanimous ruling upholds an earlier judgment handed down in U.S. District Court. The 2005 California law prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. The law also would have required game makers to use a violence rating system to clearly identify violent games.
This new ruling agreed that some video games were unquestionably violent, but noted that there were less restrictive ways to block their sale or use. The written opinion by Judge Consuelo Callahan gave two example of such less restrictive measures: a voluntary rating system that is already in use by the video game industry and the ability of parents to block certain games from their children’s video game consoles.
California state senator Leland Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, the author of the original law and a child psychologist, announced that he wanted Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal the decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yee said, “We need to help empower parents with the ultimate decision over whether or not their children play in a world of violence and murder.” It is not yet known whether or not Brown will go along with the appeal.
The passage of the law in 2005 was largely based on psychological studies that found a link between video game violence and violent behavior by teens that played those games, according to an AP story. In making her ruling, Callahan said, “None of the research establishes or suggests a causal link between minors playing violent video games and actual psychological or neurological harm, and inferences to that effect would not be reasonable.”
The backers of the bill, including California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, expressed disappointment in the new ruling. Predictably, the makers of video games felt that the ruling was justified and correct. Both the Entertainment Software Association and the Video Software Dealers Association released statements that they agreed with the court.
Michael D. Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, said, “This is a clear signal that in California and across the country, the reckless pursuit of anti-video game legislation like this is an exercise in wasting taxpayer money, government time and state resources.” This is almost certainly not the end of this contentious issue in California or in other states. Both sides seem determined to carry on the fight for at least a few more rounds.
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