Illinois judge drops restrictions banning the sale of explicit games to minors (CNN)

[Goldberg74]

Whadyathink?

Judge: Game over for Illinois ban
Court rules state's reasoning for video game ban insufficient

Friday, December 2, 2005; Posted: 10:51 p.m. EST (03:51 GMT)

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (AP) -- A federal judge ruled Friday that Illinois' restrictions on the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors are unconstitutional and barred the state from enforcing the law.

State officials "have come nowhere near" demonstrating that the law passes constitutional muster, said U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly.

Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other supporters of the measure argued that children were being harmed by exposure to games in which characters go on killing sprees or sexual escapades.

Opponents declared the law a restriction on free speech and pointed out that similar laws had been struck down in other states.

"It's unfortunate that the state of Illinois spent taxpayer money defending this statute. This is precisely what we told them would happen," said David Vite, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, one of the groups that sued over the law.

Read more... (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/12/02/game.ban.ap/index.html)

[darkside]

This law is stupid. The ESRB works fine, but it is up to parents to make sure what their kids are playing. Stop being a lazy parent and you will be fine. Why people want the government responsible for things like that make no sense to me. Its at least nice that R rated movies and rap albums got a break for awhile from being the destroying America's youth scapegoats.

[outer-edge]

Good for this judge. Hopefully the other contested laws will meet similar fates and Hillary's proposal will die a quick, quiet death.

[UAIOE]

A. Rod Blagojevich is a tool.

B. I'm glad it got struck down. The state is already poor, all they needed was to waste money on shit like this.

C. Rod Blagojevich is a tool.

[Michael Ballack]

Good for the judge. :clap:

Hopefully the same thing will happen in California and the rest of the country. How many things do we need regulated anyways?

[milo bloom]

Wife and I were just in Gamestop the other day, and some tiny, wee little child had brought some game up to the counter to buy with his mother, and the clerk mentioned that it was a Mature game (I think he had to repeat it before it sunk in with her), but it finally did and she told the kid to find something else.

First, kudos to the clerk of course, but how do they expect the ratings to work if the parents have no concept of them even existing?