US Supremes dump violent video game ban
The US Supreme Court has upheld a lower-court decision that blocked a California law which made the sale or rental of violent video games to minors an offense punishable by fines of up to $1,000.
"California has singled out the purveyors of video games for disfavored treatment – at least when compared to booksellers, cartoonists, and movie producers – and has given no persuasive reason why," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his opinion supporting the 7-2 decision.
The law the Supremes shut down was California Assembly Bill No. 1179, passed in 2005, which made it illegal to sell what it termed "violent video games" to minors. That bill defined such games as ones "in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." Read more...