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February 20, 2009
Court Strikes Down Calif. Video Game Law

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:39 p.m. ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a California law that sought to ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 2005 law violates minors' rights under the Constitution's First and 14th amendments. The three-judge panel's unanimous ruling upholds an earlier ruling in U.S. District Court.

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, D-San Francisco, 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, now known as the Entertainment Merchants Association following a merger, and the Washington, D.C.-based Entertainment Software 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..................http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/20/us/AP-Video-Game-Lawsuit.html?_r=2&hp

There is only one law.....that would be the parent's law......