Legal experts contest Utah games bill

The latest attempt at imposing strict legislation to prevent the sale of violent videogames to minors has come under fire from constitutional law experts at the Pennsylvania Centre for the First Amendment.

In an editorial piece published in the Salt Lake City Tribune, Clay Calvert and Robert D. Richards weighed in on Utah representative David L. Hogue's 'games as porn' bill, which was recently passed through a Utah House committee by a vote of 7-2.

Calvert and Richards wrote, "An initial problem with this 'inappropriate violence' bill is that it likely violates the First Amendment protection of free expression. We should trust parents to make their own decisions about what games their children should or shouldn't be allowed to play."

Like similar legislation proposals in California, Michigan and Illinois, the bill would make it illegal for retailers to sell violent videogames to minors, with heavy fines for any infractions. However, just like the bills in the other states, legal, political and industry trade experts including the Entertainment Software Association will contest the bill on the grounds of constitutionality, and it is extremely unlikely that the proposals will ever be implemented as law.

"The weight of judicial precedent thus is overwhelmingly against Hogue's bill, which would be caught up in an expensive taxpayer-funded legal battle to defend it in court were it to become law," Calvert and Richards added.