Supreme Court Finds California's Law Restricting Violent Videogame Rentals or Sales to Minors Unconstitutional

摘要

In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assoc. [No. 08-1448 (US Supp. 06/27/2011)], respondents, representing the videogame and software industries, filed a pre-enforcement challenge to a California law that restricted the sale or rental of violent videogames to minors. The Federal District Court concluded that the law violated the First Amendment and permanently enjoined its enforcement. The Ninth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court began by explaining that videogames qualify for First Amendment protection. Like protected books, plays, and movies, they communicate ideas through familiar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium.