The state of California has now spent rather more than half a million US dollars on its violent video games. The bill would make the renting or sale to minors of video games unlawful, if ‘the state’ determines those games to be ‘violent’. Note that that violent rating seems to be entirely independent of the existing ESRB ratings system.
The bill was ruled invalid on First Amendment grounds after it was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger back in 2005. Now, more than half a million US dollars having been burned on the bill, the state is pushing to have the US Supreme Court hear its appeal.
The Supreme Court may not agree to do so. The California bill is one of eight state bills of its kind, all of which have been struck down as unconstitutional, costing taxpayers millions altogether. If the Supreme Court chooses to hear the case, however, it will be the first to make it that far, and will likely make it the most expensive such bill to-date, win or lose.
Given the current state of the finances of the State of California, this action pretty much amounts to “fiddling while Rome burns.” And state government officials–up to and including Da Governator–wonder why they’re held in such low regard by the citizenry?
Indeed, it seems painfully expensive. If law is, as has been said, an experimental process, shouldn’t those experiments be rather cheaper? Or is the expense considered a deterrent to trivialities?
There’s nothing wrong with the process, though except that these attempts all seem to be a bit doomed (8 attempts so far. More if you count appeals) — but who knows, maybe the Supreme Court will green-light this, and someone will finally get their money’s worth.