Minneapolis - The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's injunction that overturned a law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors in Minnesota, the Associated Press reported.

The three-judge panel said that the state of Minnesota did not provide proof that video games cause psychological harm; the lower court ruling also found the law to be an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

The Minnesota law would have actually imposed a $25 fine on anyone under 17 who attempted to purchase games rated "Mature" or "Adults Only."

Courts have consistently ruled in some eight other jurisdictions that laws banning the sale of violent video games to minors are unconstitutional, after legal challenges were brought by the game industry's Entertainment Software Association trade group.

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