WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed sympathy for a California law that aims to keep children from buying ultra-violent video games in which players maim, kill or sexually assault images of people.
But justices seemed closely split on whether the restrictions are constitutional.
The high court has been reluctant to carve out exceptions to the First Amendment, striking down a ban on videos showing graphic violence to animals earlier this year.
California officials argue that they should be allowed to limit minors' ability to pick up violent video games on their own at retailers because of the purported damage they cause to the mental development of children. Some justices appeared to agree.
"We do not have a tradition in this country of telling children they should watch people actively hitting schoolgirls over the head with a shovel so they'll beg with mercy, being merciless and decapitating them, shooting people in the leg so they fall down," Chief Justice John Roberts said.
Roberts decried that one game lets a player "pour gasoline over them, set them on fire and urinate on them." ''We protect children from that," he said. "We don't actively expose them to that."
California's 2005 law would prohibit anyone under 18 from buying or renting games that give players the option of "killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." Parents would be able to buy the games for their children, but retailers who sell directly to minors would face fines of up to $1,000 for each game sold.
I can't believe how seriously some "grown ups" are taking video games. No kid is going to beat a girl over the head with a shovel or go bring home a stripper. High authority is being to rash about video games now-a-days and need to relax a bit. They are not allowed to sell a game with "killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." to anyone under 18!?!? Are they serious!? So i cant go and buy call of duty because it has killing? Now that just doesn't make sense. Either way the kid is going to get the game so why put such a high restriction on it. Their parents will buy the game for them anyways so whats the difference. People are beginning to become a little to uptight these days. Anything you do will offend someone. People need to sit back and relax and take life a little less serious.
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