Chicago (IL) - Last Friday, a three-judge panel for The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California issued a unanimous ruling protecting minors' rights under the Constitution's 1st and 14th amendments. The judges threw out psychology research which had been allowed by the lower courts. The California Senator who drafted the bill, Leland Yee (Democrat, San Francisco) said he wanted the Attorney General, Jerry Brown, to appeal the ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.





Judge Consuelo Callahan wrote in her ruling, "None of the research establishes or suggests a causal link between minors playing violent video games and actual psychological or neurological harm, and inferences to that effect would not be reasonable."



Even though the law had been passed in 2005 by the state congress, and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, it never actually took effect because it was challenged by the gaming industry very shortly after being signed. Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman, Camille Anderson, said, "The governor believes strongly we have a responsibility to our children and our communities to protect against the effects of video games depicting ultra-violent actions."



According to the AP article, two organizations, the Entertainment Merchants Association (previously the Video Software Dealers Association when the law was passed), and the Washington DC-based Entertainment Software Association (ESA), both argued that were these restrictions passed in California, they could "open the door for states to limit minors' access to other material under the guise of protecting children."



There have been similar laws attempted in other states which have also been struck down. Typically it is for the reason cited by Michael D. Gallagher, who is President of the ESA -- he said, "the ruling underscores that parents, with the help from the industry [and it's voluntary rating system], are the ones who should control what games their children play."