I have good news for all you underage gamers out there. The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that California cannot regulate the sale or rental of violent video games to children, reasoning that governments do not have the power to “restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed.”
On a 7-2 vote, the court upheld a federal appeals court decision to throw out the state’s ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The law would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under the age of 18, and retailers who violated the law would have been fined up to $1,000 for each infraction.
Justice Antonin Scalia said the country has no tradition of restricting depictions of violence to children and said California’s law did not meet a high legal bar to infringe on the 1st Amendment or the rights of parents to determine what’s best for their children.
What does this mean for us gamers? If you are over the age of 18, then it doesn’t really mean anything. But overall this is a huge win for the video game industry and retailers. Restricting the selling or renting to minors could have crippled the gaming market in an already fragile economy. It’s not often that video games get someone to defend them, so this is a monumental step for the gaming industry.
GameZone would love to hear your thoughts on the decision.
