Washington – Over 180 parties, including First Amendment experts,
researchers and elected officials, have signed on to briefs urging the U.S.
Supreme Court to agree with lower courts and find laws banning sales of violent
video games to minors to be unconstitutional, according to the Entertainment
Software Association, a trade group representing U.S. video game developers and
publishers. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s finding
that a California state law banning sales of violent games to minors breached
First Amendment free speech protections; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has since
appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
The ESA noted that federal courts
have ruled 12 times in eight years that video games are protected speech.
In
their brief on the case, over 80 social scientists, researchers and medical
professionals challenged a reliance on "questionable and incomplete
data."
Others siding with the game industry via briefs with the Court include the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, National Association of Broadcasters, Motion Picture Association of
America, and attorneys general for nine states.
"The depth, diversity and
high quality of briefs submitted strengthens our position before the Court. These
briefs are rooted in virtually every form of expression, commerce, social
science, and constitutional jurisprudence imaginable," said ESA president
and CEO Michael D. Gallagher.
Oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment
Merchants Association/Entertainment Software Association are scheduled for Nov.
2 before the Supreme Court.
Related Links:
http://theesa.com/newsroom/release_detail.asp?releaseID=121
http://tinyurl.com/2d2gqmd
http://theesa.com/policy/scotus.asp
