The California law would have banned minors from buying excessively violent video games. (Stanislav Solntsev / Getty Images)
A Verdict on Video Games
The Supreme Court strikes down a California ban on selling violent video games to minors
Freedom of speech is protected by the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. (istockphoto)
It’s “game over” this week for a California law that restricted the sale or rental of violent video games to minors (anyone under the age of 18). The U.S. Supreme Court, the nation’s highest court, decided that the law violates the right to freedom of speech, as protected by the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution was created in 1787, and still serves as the basis for America’s laws today. It is the job of the Supreme Court to make sure that our state and national laws follow the legal ideas contained in the Constitution. If the Court finds that a law does not agree with the Constitution, then the law can no longer be enforced.
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791 to protect the freedoms of American citizens. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights protects the freedom of speech. This means that people can express themselves in different ways—sometimes in ways that others disagree with.
The Court decided that the ban on video games violated the First Amendment. Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the decision, says that video games are protected by the First Amendment because they communicate ideas. In this way, he believes that they are like books, plays, and movies, which have long been protected as free speech.
Of the nine Supreme Court Justices, only two, Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer, disagreed with the decision.
Justice Thomas wrote, “The freedom of speech . . . does not include a right to speak to minors without going through the minors’ parents or guardians.”
Many people think playing violent video games can make a person more violent. Some studies have shown a link between such games and aggression. Justice Scalia disagrees. He says the studies do not definitely prove that video games cause violent behavior.
Scalia also argued that kids have always been exposed to disturbing imagery. The original Grimm’s Fairy Tales, for example, was very violent. “Disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression,” he asserted in the Court’s decision.
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