A federal judge ruled Friday that Illinois’ restrictions on the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors are unconstitutional and barred the state from enforcing the law.
[Judge] Kennelly said the law would interfere with the First Amendment and there wasn’t a compelling enough reason, such as preventing imminent violence, to allow that.
“In this country, the state lacks the authority to ban protected speech on the ground that it affects the listener’s or observer’s thoughts and attitudes,” the judge wrote.
Our whole culture is swamped with fighting the battles against Victorian “morality” all over again. Not only have lawyers somehow become the essential lifestyle arbiters; we seem to be governed by politicians and bureaucrats who think they must legislate taste.
I don’t want to live in a porn culture, but at the same time I feel it is just wrong to impose censorship. It’s a debate that needs to take place among level heads, not with self-serving beaurocrats or greedey merchants. Somehow we need clear and level minds to come to the table to put this to bed. However the debate is as old as western culture, we will probably never be rid of it.
Ok, it did say specifically to the sale of minors. There is a difference to selling to minors, and selling to adults, Dvorak. I wouldn’t want a store to sell Debbie Does Dallas: The Video Game to children. If this state truly thinks that the First Ammendment is so important as to sell smut to children, why stop there? Hell, sell them Back Door Bangers while they’re at it.