Day 15: Video Games = Free Speech

That pretty much sums it up. Here's a bit of history on this decision for those who don't know. I'll just post some of the highlights.

• October 7, 2005: Schwarzenegger signed a bill restricting the sale or rental of 'certain' video games to anyone under the age of 18. The computer and video games are classified as "violent video games" and restricted if the depictions of violence are "offensive to the community" or if the violence depicted is committed in an "especially heinous, cruel, or depraved" manner.  Under the law, game manufacturers and distributors would be required to label games with 2" x 2" stickers displaying the numeral "18" on their front covers. Basically this meant that whatever games the government deemed 'violent', a completely subjective argument, would have to bear a sticker like music CDs and carry criminal disciplinary action for anyone selling to minors. What this inadvertently means is these games would carry a bad stigma. Any retailer fearing consequences of a wrongful sale could just refuse to sell these games to begin with and the industry becomes effectively censored by the bill.
• October 17, 2005: The Video Software Dealers Association (now known as the Entertainment Merchants Association) challenged the law.
• December 21, 2005: A preliminary injunction is granted barring enforcement of the law. The judge found that the law likely violates the First Amendment.
• August 6, 2007: A permanent injunction is granted. The court ruled that the law violated the First Amendment. The defendants argued that video games are different than other media and needs to be restricted for the sake minors. The court wasn't impressed with the evidence, or lack thereof.
• February 20, 2009: After the state appealed the granting of a permanent injunction to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on September 5, 2007, the Ninth Circuit ruled the law unconstitutional.
• May 20, 2009: Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown appeal to the Supreme Court concerning the Ninth Circuit's ruling.
• April 26, 2010: The Supreme Court accepts the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA.

Since then the case had been ongoing. The primary argument centered around whether or not the First Amendment protects video games or not. The California bill supporters argued for the burden of rating and categorizing games be taken on by the government. Then, the games deemed unsuitable would be separated from the others and sale to minors would be prohibited by law. The EMA thought this was a stupid waste of tax payer money and time when the ESRB, a private non-profit organization, already does this service. The Supreme Court couldn't determine what exactly constitutes a 'violent video game' based on the defendants' vague, subjective qualifications. And finally today, the moment of truth when the case is finally put to bed. Video games must be granted the same government protections that books, movies and music have been granted. This won't be the be all end all. As long as people like Jack Thompson are around, and there's a lot of them, there'll always be people trying to control what they don't understand. It happened to comic books, it happened to music, and it's happening to video games. This is the first big step so rejoice!