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Video-Game Laws In Three States Are Ruled Unconstitutional
The trend in judicial resistance to statutes that regulate video-game content recently became clearer when federal district courts in Michigan, Illinois and California enjoined state statutes that deemed certain video-game content harmful to minors.
First, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, preliminarily enjoined Part II of Michigan 2005 Public Act 108, which made it a civilly fineable offense of from $5,000 to $40,000, based on the number of violations, to “knowingly disseminate to a minor an ultra-violent explicit video game that is harmful to minors.” The Act also included criminal fines and jail time for store managers who allowed minors to “play or view the playing” of such games.
Acknowledging that video games are protected First Amendment expression, the Michigan federal district court applied strict scrutiny in finding that a “cursory review of the research relied upon by the state shows that it is unlikely that the State can demonstrate a compelling interest in preventing a perceived 'harm.'”
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