Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Overturning CA Video Game Law

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 20, 2009 - 12:35pm.

Sacramento, Calif. - The U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the state of California's appeal of a ruling that overturned a law that would have restricted the sales of violent video games to minors. A lower court ruled that the 2005 law was an unconstitutional violation of First Amendment free speech protections, after the Video Software Dealers Association (now the Entertainment Merchants Association) and the Entertainment Software Association filed suit against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others to prevent its enforcement.

"I understand that some government officials will push for the state to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review this decision," said Bo Anderson, president and CEO of the Entertainment Merchants Association.

"The state should not acquiesce in this demand, particularly in light of its budget difficulties. The state has already wasted too many tax dollars, at least $283,000 at last count, on this ill-advised, and ultimately doomed, attempt at state-sponsored nannyism."

Similar laws enacted in other states have been routinely overturned in court as violations of First Amendment protections.

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Related Links:
http://www.entmerch.org/schwarzenneger.html

http://snipurl.com/cbutd (DMW previous coverage)