The Entertainment Software Association, the trade association representing computer and video game publishers, has filed a brief asking the United States Supreme Court to find a 2005 California law restricting the sale and rental of computer and video games to minors unconstitutional.
In the brief, the ESA states that the statute would deny First Amendment protections to video games that California deems “offensively violent,” and that lower courts have repeatedly ruled that there is no credible evidence linking video games and psychological or neurological harm to minors.
The ESA also argues that there are other, less restrictive ways to keep violent video games out of the hands of minors, like the ESRB’s rating system and parental controls.
“The California statute is unnecessary, unwarranted, and unconstitutional,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA. “Our industry is already partnering with parents and fulfilling its responsibility by supporting the leading work of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the most robust entertainment rating system available. [The statute] would threaten freedom of expression not just for video games, but for all art forms. It would also tie up our courts in endless debates about what constitutes acceptable creative expression in our media. It protects no one and assaults the constitutional rights of artists and storytellers everywhere.”
The case, Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association and Entertainment Software Association, will begin oral arguments on November 2nd.
