Courtship of Violence

Yesterday I reported on a Wall Street Journal article that caught my attention.  This article talked of a hearing at the Highest Court in all of the land The Supreme Court.  California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California General Attorney Jerry Brown brought a new law to the Supreme Court which would if enacted force retail stores to STRICTLY enforce the sales of violent video games to minors saying Quote “Violent video games are akin to the sexual content found in pornography, which the government can restrict in order to protect minors.  Violent video games are no less harmful to the development of minors than pornography.”   While this still hotly contest ruling goes on in the Supreme Court justices have been fair in the stance.   Saying things along the lines “The law you are proposing is too vague.”  “If this law was to go into effect would it only be restricted to the sales of Violent Games or a broad spectrum including movies and comic-books.”  During the argument Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked “Could you get rid of rap music?  Have you heard some of the lyrics in rap music?  Does this law similarly shield children from depictions of violence, drinking and smoking in other forms of media, such as music, movies and comic books?”

The Supreme Court is well aware of the implications allowing this law to be upheld holds for the $10.5 billion dollar annual sales video game industry.  This law while protecting children will subsequently force video game developers to restrict their art form and their written material which goes into games because of fear of lawsuit.  Other justices voiced concerns that along with the law being extremely vague also asked the Supreme Court to carve out an exception in the first amendment to include violence or things of violent nature.

Outside the court in Washington D.C people supporting the Video Game industry were sporting signs that called The Govenator Schwarzenegger a former Action Movie Star a Hypocrite for supporting the proposed law. 

As this story continues I will keep you updated.

Sources: TV and
Business Week: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-02/violent-video-game-limits-questioned-at-high-court.html