
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association
What's at Stake
Whether a California law prohibiting the sale of "violent video games" to minors violates the First Amendment.
Stay informed about our latest work in the courts.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU's privacy statement.
Summary
California has enacted a law banning the sale of "violent video games" to minors. Like every other similar law around the nation, it was struck down as unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. In an amicus brief supporting that decision, the ACLU argues that the statute is pointless if it does not reach on-line sales and game playing, and overbroad if it does since the statutory prohibition would then effectively apply to adults as well as children. In addition, the ACLU brief argues that the statute's attempt to define "violent video games" by analogy to obscenity is vague, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.