Block On "Violent Video Games" Law Stands
...at least through next week…
On June 15th, Louisiana Governor, Kathleen Blanco, signed Bill 1381, by Rep. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport, into law. The law would have fined $100 to $2,000, a year in jail, or possibly both to retailers convicted of selling or renting “violent video games” to minors.
The next day, June 16th, the Entertainment Software Association and the Entertainment Merchants Association filed suit to protect games under the First Amendment. Note that six other states with similar laws have all had those laws thrown out in federal courts.
The federal judge presiding over this case, U.S. District Court Judge James Brady, said he will rule on the case sometime next week. Regarding the violence in video games, Judge Brady had this to say about it, “It is horrible but it is protected….”
I, for one, hope he does the right thing and protects games, it would be detrimental to the state’s massive effort to attract game developers if such a law were allowed to go into effect. I’ll keep you posted with my fingers crossed.
Super Timsy
Posted to Video Games on 5 July 2006
Other stuff like this: law, legal, Louisiana, Violent Games
