Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Banning Sales Of Violent Video Games In California

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law which prohibits the sale of violent video games to minors, on the grounds that the ban is an unconstitutional infringement on the right to free speech. The vote was 7-2 in overruling the law. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court, “Even where the protection of children is the object, the constitutional limits on governmental action apply." The two dissenting Justices were Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas. Two video game trade groups, the Entertainment Merchants Association and the Entertainment Software Association had challenged the law. The two groups included companies such as Electronic Arts ERTS, Microsoft MSFT, Sony SNE and Take-Two Interactive TTWO. The law restricted games that depict violence against people and appeal to “a deviant or morbid interest of minors,” are “patently offensive” and “lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.”