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Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"

News | June 27, 2011 2:52 pm
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to let California regulate the sale or rental of violent video games to children, saying governments do not have the power to "restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed" despite complaints about graphic violence.

On a 7-2 vote, the high 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 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Sacramento had ruled that the law violated minors' rights under the First Amendment, and the high court agreed.

"No doubt a state possesses legitimate power to protect children from harm," said Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion. "But that does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed."

The California law would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. Retailers who violated the act would have been fined up to $1,000 for each infraction.

More than 46 million American households have at least one video-game system, with the industry bringing in at least $18 billion in 2010.

Unlike depictions of "sexual conduct," Scalia said there is no tradition in the United States of restricting children's access to depictions of violence, pointing out the violence in the original depiction of many popular children's fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella and Snow White.

Hansel and Gretel kill their captor by baking her in an oven, Cinderella's evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by doves and the evil queen in Snow White is forced to wear red hot slippers and dance until she is dead, Scalia said.

"Certainly the books we give children to read — or read to them when they are younger — contain no shortage of gore," Scalia added.

But Justice Clarence Thomas, who dissented from the decision along with Justice Stephen Breyer, said the majority read something into the First Amendment that isn't there.

"The practices and beliefs of the founding generation establish that "the freedom of speech," as originally understood, does not include a right to speak to minors (or a right of minors to access speech) without going through the minors' parents or guardians," Thomas wrote.
(Source: http://www.yahoo.com)
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Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 2:57 pm | #2
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The thing I find the most amusing about this whole thing is how the bill was structured. It was horrible. I actually read some of the court excerpts months ago and seriously thought that the ones defending the bill were the ones who were against it!

I'm all for trying to keep overly violent games out of the hands of minors but this bill was just stupid. No where in it did it prevent that from happening, the parents could still allow it and frankly just put the burden on the people selling the games. Not to mention the fact that not all 'M' rated games would have had this rule, only select ones, and the stipulations for that happening were just ignorant as well.

Its clear to me that the people who made/supported this bill have never played a video game in their entire lives.
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12/31/69 7:00 pm | #3

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Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 3:23 pm | #4
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I'll be honest and admit I haven't read the bill but I've heard of several similar attempts across the country. What I don't get though is why the hell are they allowing a 12 year old kid to go out and buy these extremly gory and violent games? They can't go out and buy an R rated movie where they say fuck twice in it (you can only drop it once in a PG-13 movie), why should they be able to go buy something where they controll this when they can't buy a movie where they just simply watch it.

And yes Mellissa your right, minors are the responsibility of their parents untill they hit 18, basically their property so they actually have no rights.
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Re: Re: Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 3:27 pm | #5
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Quote by Melissa Evol:



Quote by Minioger:


The thing I find the most amusing about this whole thing is how the bill was structured. It was horrible. I actually read some of the court excerpts months ago and seriously thought that the ones defending the bill were the ones who were against it!

I'm all for trying to keep overly violent games out of the hands of minors but this bill was just stupid. No where in it did it prevent that from happening, the parents could still allow it and frankly just put the burden on the people selling the games. Not to mention the fact that not all 'M' rated games would have had this rule, only select ones, and the stipulations for that happening were just ignorant as well.

Its clear to me that the people who made/supported this bill have never played a video game in their entire lives.




IDK-- I read the bill, read the transcripts of the arguments... and I'm just disappointed by it. It could have been better, but in all honesty, passing it wouldn't have changed anything- it's really no more effective than Gamestop's current policy of needing an ID from an adult to purchase M games (there's just no revenue going to CA right now from violations)... and I don't have to feel like a pervert going behind a curtain to buy games now. ;)

But I do absolutely agree that the 1st amendment shouldn't apply in this case- labeling and controlling sales isn't controlling speech, and minors aren't covered by the constitution, anyway. Pretty sure they're considered the property of their parents for 18 years. ;p There were a million other platforms that the opposition could have taken.



Lol I've never been ID'd and I'm constantly buying M-Rated games.
Bioshock 1&2
Dragon Age
L.A. Noire
etc...

Businesses, video game/movie retailers for this matter, don't really care about age. I assure you if an 8 year old walked into a Gamestop to get a game Like Grand Theft Auto, they wouldn't hesitate to take the money, money is money, simple economics. Although that's not really how it is. The workers just don't give a damn. I would know, my nephew bought it for his PS3 ;).

Oh, I'm no one's property :p.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 3:41 pm | #7
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Quote by Melissa Evol:



Quote by Daniel:




Lol I've never been ID'd and I'm constantly buying M-Rated games.
Bioshock 1&2
Dragon Age
L.A. Noire
etc...

Businesses, video game/movie retailers for this matter, don't really care about age. I assure you if an 8 year old walked into a Gamestop to get a game Like Grand Theft Auto, they wouldn't hesitate to take the money, money is money, simple economics. Although that's not really how it is. The workers just don't give a damn. I would know, my nephew bought it for his PS3 ;).

Oh, I'm no one's property :p.



I've been carded at every gamestop I've been to in the last 3 years (across 4 different states). Walmart doesn't give a crap, but I've seen gamestop employees make kids go get their parents from their cars to buy M games. IDK, maybe it's just Texas where they don't have those rules, but according to the kid that tried to flatter me and pretend that he didn't believe I was 18 even after looking at my license, it's gamestop policy to card everyone who buys an M game and they can get in trouble if they don't.

Selling to minors without parental consent is bad business, though. It just takes one pissed off mom to start a shitstorm (just ask people who played the new MOH how playing as the Taliban went).



Texas does have the rules, they're just not enforced.

If the parents who drive up to the store with their children don't even care enough to monitor the games their children buy, do they really have a reason to bitch at the employees for selling it to them? They're just there to earn (Using that word loosely) their check, no more usually.

You're of legal age? I always thought you were 17 ;).
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 3:47 pm | #8
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Quote by Daniel:



Quote by Melissa Evol:




I've been carded at every gamestop I've been to in the last 3 years (across 4 different states). Walmart doesn't give a crap, but I've seen gamestop employees make kids go get their parents from their cars to buy M games. IDK, maybe it's just Texas where they don't have those rules, but according to the kid that tried to flatter me and pretend that he didn't believe I was 18 even after looking at my license, it's gamestop policy to card everyone who buys an M game and they can get in trouble if they don't.

Selling to minors without parental consent is bad business, though. It just takes one pissed off mom to start a shitstorm (just ask people who played the new MOH how playing as the Taliban went).



Texas does have the rules, they're just not enforced.

If the parents who drive up to the store with their children don't even care enough to monitor the games their children buy, do they really have a reason to bitch at the employees for selling it to them? They're just there to earn (Using that word loosely) their check, no more usually.

You're of legal age? I always thought you were 17 ;).



Thats not the case Daniel, if the parent is there with the child the employee is obligated to sell the game, its parental permission and legally he is selling it to the parent but he will still have to see an ID over 18.

Plus the problem will be kids that go off on their own and buy these games, hell I'd walk to the videostore when I was thirteen and get games with my friends, no one knew what we were going to buy, we didn't even know untill we got there, the parents won't always be there to monitor the sale, especially when kids are between 14-18 when they and their friends can drive.

I'm shocked your gamestop employees don't check ID's mine are so inept I got carded when buying an E rated game, poor guy got some shit from me after that.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 4:01 pm | #9
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Quote by WyoChuck:



Quote by Daniel:




Texas does have the rules, they're just not enforced.

If the parents who drive up to the store with their children don't even care enough to monitor the games their children buy, do they really have a reason to bitch at the employees for selling it to them? They're just there to earn (Using that word loosely) their check, no more usually.

You're of legal age? I always thought you were 17 ;).



Thats not the case Daniel, if the parent is there with the child the employee is obligated to sell the game, its parental permission and legally he is selling it to the parent but he will still have to see an ID over 18.

Plus the problem will be kids that go off on their own and buy these games, hell I'd walk to the videostore when I was thirteen and get games with my friends, no one knew what we were going to buy, we didn't even know untill we got there, the parents won't always be there to monitor the sale, especially when kids are between 14-18 when they and their friends can drive.

I'm shocked your gamestop employees don't check ID's mine are so inept I got carded when buying an E rated game, poor guy got some shit from me after that.



What I meant, If the child is in the store, and the parent is in the car waiting doing nothing instead of monitoring the game their child buys, and the employee still sells it to the underage child. Do the parents reserve a right to bitch at the Employee even though they did not bother to monitor their child. Man the way I say it makes it sound like it doesn't happen, when it happens so many times.

But In my opinion no.

What can I say, Texas (or at least the part I'm from) just doesn't care. At least every time I go, maybe the world changes when I leave :confused:.
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Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 4:09 pm | #10
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When I worked at Gamestop all my managers said if a person looked under 30 I had to card them. I didnt always do it though. Also, if you looked over 18 enough and you didnt have ID when I ask... I would just say fuck it, its cool.

But if you did look under 18 you better have that ID! I didnt care how much you bitched about being over 18. :rofl:

And when kids accompanied by their parents brought M rated games to the counter, we always had to "warn" them and ask if it was okay lol. I remember this one dude and his kid brought Halo 3 up to me. I told him it was rated M, and he spazzed on his kid to put it back. I explained that it wasnt that bad, its just humans killing aliens. He looked me in the eye for 5 seconds... and the at the top of lungs screamed: "I AM A FUCKING CHRISTIAN! I dont let my kids play that garbage!". Normally I would have been stunned and stayed silent, but I just LOL'd so fucking hard in his face. He then stormed out the store. It was epic.
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Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 4:33 pm | #11
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Funny how i can go into a store and buy a bottle of Jack Daniels and never be carded, yet every time i am dumb enough to go to gamestop to buy a game, i am carded. Does that say its okay to drink but its not okay to buy a violent game without being hassled for it?? I'm 34 years old, i shouldn't have to deal with that shit. I never liked their idea do this anyway. I'm all for the parent doing their job and paying attention to what their child does, not the goverment, be it state or federal. To much parental responsibility is pushed off on someone else other than the childs parents. In my opinion parents in general are just getting lazy in their jobs of raising their children. I have a 4 year old boy and i know everything he has. I don't allow certain things and have even returned gits he's recieved because he is to young for them. I work 14 hours a day and yet i find time to raise him properly, so what is the problem with other people being able to do this??
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Re: Court: "Calif. Can't ban violent video game sales"
06/27/11 5:04 pm | #12
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I don't get carded anymore, because I've been shopping at the same Gamestop for over 3 years.

I think this was a waste of time to begin with, it falls onto the parent to know and understand what their kids are buying and if their child is mature enough to play those types of games.

IMO don't punish the whole for the sins of the few, and that's what this really falls under, violent video games are sold everyday, and the cases in which violent crimes are "connected" to them is too few to be garnering the concern it seems to be getting from people.

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