The Red Monkey

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a challenge to California’s ban on the sale of violent video games to minors.

Hot on the heels of overturning a congressional ban on videos depicting animal cruelty, justices said they would consider the constitutionality of California’s 2005 law sometime during the term that starts in October. A federal judge has previously blocked the state law from taking effect.

“The public agrees (that) video games should be provided the same protections as books, movies and music,” Entertainment Software Association President Michael D. Gallagher said Monday, adding that “we look forward to…vigorously defending the works of our industry’s creators, storytellers and innovators.”

The law’s author, state Sen. Leland Lee, D-San Francisco, likewise said he was “pleased” with the upcoming court review.

“The Supreme Court has never heard a case dealing with violent video games,” Yee noted, so “states are now certain to receive direction on how to proceed with this important issue.”

The closely watched free-speech case is likely to become one of the first to be heard by the newest Supreme Court justice, who is expected to be nominated by President Barack Obama in coming weeks.

The court’s newest member will replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who joined an eight-member majority last week in overturning the congressional ban on videos depicting animal cruelty. That 8-1 decision, with its expansive view of the First Amendment, suggests justices could be skeptical as they review California’s law.

“The First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech does not extend only to categories of speech that survive an ad hoc balancing of relative social costs and benefits,” Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. wrote for the majority last week.

The California law now in question prohibits the sale of video games to minors under 18 “where a reasonable person would find that the violent content appeals to a

deviant or morbid interest of minors.” As with laws governing obscenity, the state statute exempts games that have “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

At least nine other states and localities have enacted similar restrictions, including Washington, Minnesota and Illinois. In California, retailers are subject to $1,000 fines for each violation.

“This court should…permit states to treat extremely violent material the same as sexually explicit material,” California Attorney General Jerry Brown argued in a legal brief, adding that “the First Amendment rights of minors are not coextensive with those of adults.”

Yee, a child psychologist, cited academic studies suggesting links between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior. Supporters of the law further cite specific game descriptions to justify the restrictions

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