The Entertainment Software Association is taking on Minnesota’s new video game law in Federal District Court. Saying the law violates youngsters’ First Amendment rights, the organization has asked the Eighth Circuit Court to strike the law from the books.
The law, as written, takes a different approach than many others that have been shot down by the courts to date. Rather than try to fine retailers for selling or renting games marked M for mature or AO for adults only to kids, this one fines the kids directly. The price for trying to get a copy of Grand Theft Auto if you’re under 17 is $25 a pop.
Whoever came up with this idea deserves some sort of award for idiocy on a monumental scale. Criminalizing kids for trying to buy video games is lunacy. The folks who voted for this one must really enjoy writing blank checks out of taxpayers’ accounts. If the federal court system hasn’t allowed laws that fine stores to stand, what on earth makes Minnesota lawmakers think this will fly? Furthermore, do the people of Minnesota really and truly want the people who drafted this piece of rubbish to tell them how to raise their children? We can only hope not.
From the ESA’s media release:
The bill's tortured effort to end run the First Amendment by punishing kids directly fails under the Constitution because children have rights under the First Amendment, like all other citizens. The State is attempting to impose liability on children because they know that courts have consistently held that they cannot penalize retailers. We believe that the courts will agree that fining children violates the First Amendment as well," said Doug Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the trade group representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. "If this law is implemented, it will not only limit First Amendment rights for Minnesota's residents, it will create a huge amount of confusion for retailers, parents, and children. I'm confident the court will affirm our position given the rulings on similar statutes in other jurisdictions."
Here’s hoping Lowenstein’s right and bravo to the ESA for fighting this one. I can’t imagine what the Minnesota penal system would do with a few thousand kids who couldn’t come up with the fine money. Kiddy gamer chain gangs maybe?
Related:
Getting Tough On Video Games
California Judge Strikes Video Game Law
Opinion: Say 'No' To Family Entertainment Protection Act
Florida Lawmakers Move To Ban Violent Games
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