California Continues to Endorse Unconstitutional Content Restriction
Apparently, California isn’t satisfied with that ruling. According to the Associated Press, Attorney General Jerry Brown has petitioned the Supreme Court for a Writ of Certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit’s holding in Video Software Dealers Association v. Schwarzenegger, 556 F.3d 950 (9th Cir. 2009).
So, instead of focusing on the budget crisis, prison overcrowding, and/or subpar public schools, California is going to spend as much money as possible trying to keep our impressionable youth from playing GTA IV. Then again, maybe the excessive penalties that video game retailers will face for selling a game to a minor that someone in Sacramento decided was too violent for innocent children will solve all the budget woes?
Hopefully, the Supreme Court will just deny cert, saving both the video game industry and the taxpayers money. I doubt that even the conservative justices on the Supreme Court really want to tackle the issue of whether the definition of obscenity should be extended to include violence.
On the other hand, if the Court does hear the case and rules in favor of the State, it may become easier for kids to figure out which video games are the best. All they’ll have to do is look for the big “18” sticker on the front of the boxes.
You can find a copy of California’s petition here (warning: pdf).
