Court Strikes Down California Video Game Law

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Court Strikes Down California Video Game Law

The court ruled that the 2005 law violates minors' rights under the Constitution. The three-judge panel's unanimous ruling upholds an earlier court ruling.

The law would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. It also would have created strict labeling requirements for video game manufacturers.

In a written opinion, Judge Consuelo Callahan said there were less restrictive ways to protect children from "unquestionably violent" video games. For example, the justices said the industry has a voluntary rating system and that parents can block certain games on video consoles.

The law's author, state Sen. Leland Yee, said he wanted Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We need to help empower parents with the ultimate decision over whether or not their children play in a world of violence and murder," Yee, a child psychologist, said in a statement.

A spokesman for Brown said the attorney general would review the decision to determine the appropriate steps.

California lawmakers had approved the law, in part, by relying on studies suggesting violent games can be linked to aggression, anti-social behavior and desensitization to violence. The justices dismissed that research.

"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," Callahan said in her ruling.

The law never took effect and was challenged shortly after it was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. A U.S. District Court blocked it after the industry sued California over constitutional concerns.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Camille Anderson said the governor was reviewing Friday's ruling.

"The governor believes strongly we have a responsibility to our children and our communities to protect against the effects of video games depicting ultra-violent actions," she said.

The Encino-based Video Software Dealers Association argued that California's restrictions could open the door for states to limit minors' access to other material under the guise of protecting children.

The court agreed, saying California was "asking us to boldly go where no court has gone before."

"The state, in essence, asks us to create a new category of non-protected material based on its depiction of violence," Callahan wrote in the 30-page ruling.

Michael D. Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, said the ruling underscores that parents, with help from the industry, are the ones who should control what games their children play.

Source : tech2.com