U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down California Law Banning Sale or Rental of Violent Video Games to Minors

U.S. Supreme Court: California ban on violent video games violates First Amendment. (San Jose Mercury News, 6/27/2011)

Excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down California's law that would have banned the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, saying that it violates the First Amendment.

The court, in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, affirmed that video games are protected by the amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech and free expression.

The court has only allowed a few exceptions to the First Amendment, such as obscene material and incitement to violence, Scalia noted in his opinion. By trying to restrict violent games, California was attempting to create a new exception to First Amendment protections, Scalia said.

The state "wishes to create a wholly new category of content-based regulation that is permissible only for speech directed at children," he wrote. "That is unprecedented and mistaken."