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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Courts - "High Court OKs Sales Of Violent Video Games To Kids"

Nina Totenberg's NPR Morning Edition story on the SCOTUS decision yesterday in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n. Her long story begins:

The U.S. Supreme Court, wrapping up its current term, has struck down California's ban on the sale of violent video games to children. A divided court majority said the law violates the Constitution's guarantee of free expression.

In 2005, California enacted a law that imposed a $1,000 fine on retailers any time they sold a violent video game to a minor. The state cited social science studies that it said showed kids who play these games for many hours are desensitized to violence and become more aggressive in their behavior. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected those arguments Monday, and struck down the law.

Technically, the court was split 7-to-2, but the various concurring and dissenting opinions more closely resembled a 5-4 split.

SCOTUSblog's Lyle Denniston had a long, interesting analysis-post yesterday with this intro:
Reacting to changing times, the Court forbids government regulation of violent video games — even for young children. And it promises new looks at government’s power to protect children from profanity and nudity in broadcasting, and the government’s power to use electronic monitoring of private activity.

Boldly proclaiming that old constitutional principles do not yield to new waves of technology, but leaving itself chances to make some exceptions, the Supreme Court on Monday flatly barred state legislatures and Congress from trying to shield children from violent video games, took on anew the issue of whether government can protect children from dirty words and adult nudity on TV and radio, and promised a new decision on high-tech police surveillance and its impact on individual privacy. On the last public session of the Term, when modernity was front-and-center on the Court’s docket, the Justices were clearly not of one mind about it. and were not promising that they would be when they next explore today’s changing values.

This ILB entry from Oct. 8, 2010 notes that the 7th Circuit in 2001 threw out an Indianapolis ordinance that regulated violent video games. The case was American Amusement Machine Association v. Kendrick. Links in the entry follow the history from 2001 forward.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 28, 2011 10:07 AM
Posted to Courts in general