11/6/2010
A number of parents in California support the California Law banning violent video games for children. It was in 2005 that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law. In 2009, San Francisco’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared said law as unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court would be hearing arguments about the decision of the federal court on throwing out the said law, which seeks to implement the banning of rental and sale of violent games to children. This was the first case brought before the Supreme Court, which involved the interactive medium itself.
The law would be prohibiting the sale of games that allow the players to kill, maim, dismember, or sexually assault a human being’s image to those who are below 18. Each infraction of said law would punish retailers with a fine of $1,000.
According to the federal court, the law was a violation of the constitutional rights of minors under the First Amendment. It was also a violation of the minor’s rights in the Fourteenth Amendment. It also said that the state do not have adequate evidence to prove that violent games can harm minors in the physical and psychological aspect.
In other states, like Michigan and Illinois, there were also similar cases filed but the Courts reached the same decision as with the California federal court.
Lillian Quintero, one of the parents who support the California law, who has 4-year-old and 2-year old daughters said that before she picks up Wii games or download iPhone apps for her children to play with, she would read reviews on them and tries them out herself. If she finds the games educational and engaging, she would then allow her children to play with them. This was in response to the proliferation of violent video games in the industry.
