People against Violent Video Games

In 2005 the governors of Illinois, Michigan, and California, separately created similar laws with the purpose of limiting the access of minors to violent video games.  In all three cases the federal court stepped in and got rid of the laws quickly after they were passed.  In Illinois two laws were passed regarding violence and sexually explicit material in video games.  “…Violent video games…” were not to be sold to minors, anyone under the age of 18, under penalty of $1,000 fine.  This law was ruled to violate the first amendment according to the U.S. district judge at the time, but not only did it violate the first amendment, the law was also void for being too vague in regards to the definition of a violent video game.  The law about sexually explicit material was very similar, but also isn’t very relevant to my current point.  In Michigan a law that was essentially a combination of the two from Illinois was passed.  When it passed, politicians used the media coverage to say anything to seem like they were doing the right thing by protecting the children.  The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) challenged the law in Michigan because, just like in Illinois, it restricted first amendment rights, and was also vague.  Finally, in California Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that did similar things as the previous two.  When asked about first amendment issues he said, “‘I myself didn’t have to worry about that.  My staff did.  There’s a difference.’” (Calvert)  The concerns about the violations of the first amendment in this bill were so extreme that the U.S. District Court Judge put a preliminary injunction on it before it could go into effect. (Calvert)