Constitutional Law

Utah AG joins fight against Calif. video-game law

By By The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY ? Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has decided to join a legal fight against a California law prohibiting the sale of violent video games to children.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Shurtleff joined colleagues in nine other states by signing onto a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the California law. The high court is scheduled to hear oral argument in Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association on Nov. 2.

Shurtleff?s decision came after Gov. Gary Herbert and lawmakers pressured him not to take the action.

"I'm convinced it's a First Amendment right," he told the Tribune on Sept. 17. "The only reason I wouldn't sign on was because of political pressure, and I just didn't feel like that was the right reason."

Common Sense Media, a California-based nonprofit that supports the state law, criticized Shurtleff. The group said he ignored social science on the issue and caved in to the video-game industry.

"It's an unfortunate but predictable decision. Our concern all along was that Attorney General Shurtleff could be bought and sold by the video-game industry via campaign contributions," said Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media.

The Entertainment Software Association, the trade organization that represents the video-game industry, donated $3,000 to Shurtleff's campaign in 2008.

The California law, which was passed in 2005, prohibits the sale of violent video games to those under age 18 and imposes fines of up to $1,000 on retailers who fail to comply.

But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked implementation of the law, ruling that the ban infringed on free speech and that the state couldn't prove video-game violence was harmful to children.

Shurtleff says he thinks the only legal way that the government could prohibit the sale of violent video games would be to show a link between the games and violent acts. His own research shows no such relationship, he said.

"I'm going to have some convincing to do to people that I'm not putting kids at risk by taking this position," he said. "If I really felt there was strong enough evidence for a causal connection, then I'd think maybe government can step into this arena, but it's just not there."

Steyer disagreed, saying Shurtleff's stance runs contrary to what the attorney general has claimed to stand for during his political career.

"It's ironic that someone who touts himself as such a staunch defender of children and families would side with industry profits related to ultra-violent and sexually violent video games over the established interests of the children and families of Utahns,? Steyer said.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on September 19, 2010 (boomark / email).