Shacknews
08-06-07
Judge Declares California Violent Game Bill Unconstitutional, Schwarzenegger
Vows Revenge
by Carlos Bergfeld
Update: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office released a statement today
saying the governor will appeal the ruling of District Judge Ronald Whyte. Whyte
declared a California bill restricting the sale of violent games to minors
unconstitutional in a lawsuit brought against the governor by the games industry.
"I signed this important measure to ensure that parents are involved in
determining which video games are appropriate for their children. The bill I
signed would require that violent video games be clearly labeled and not be sold
to children under 18 years old. Many of these games are made for adults and
choosing games that are appropriate for kids should be a decision made by their
parents," said Schwarzenegger in a prepared statement. "I will vigorously defend
this law and appeal it to the next level."
Original Story: A federal district court judge declared the 2005 California bill
restricting the sale of violent games to minors unconstitutional today, effectively
closing the book on the legislation. Northern California District Judge Ronald
Whyte had already passed a preliminary injunction against the bill in late 2005 in
response to a complaint filed by the Video Software Dealers association, now
defunct, and the Entertainment Software Association.
If not for the injunction, Assembly Bill 1179--introduced by Senator Leland Yee
and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2005--would
have gone into effect January 1, 2006. The bill aimed to stick retailers with a
$1,000 fine if they sold to minors games depicting "serious injury to human
beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel." It also would
have created a label separate from the ESRB system to designate which games
contained said depictions of violence.
Judge Whyte's ruling lists many factors that contribute to making the bill
unconstitutional. He says the bill's definition of violence as listed is too broad.
"The definition could literally apply to some classic literature if put in the form of a
video game," he writes.
Whyte also says that the evidence presented by those in support of a causal link
between video game violence and real world violence--particularly the work of
Iowa State University psychology professor Craig Anderson--does not justify
extraneous regulations on their sale. He writes: