ST. LOUIS, June 4 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court panel struck down a St. Louis County ordinance restricting distribution of violent video games like Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Wolfenstein to minors in a much-watched First Amendment case.
Tuesday's ruling in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was against a law passed three years ago to outlaw sale or rental of violent or sexually explicit games to people under 17 without parental consent. The law was never enforced because of court challenges by the video game industry that claimed the same rights and protections as publishers and filmmakers
"We see no reason why the pictures, graphic design, concept art, sounds, music, stories, and narrative present in video games are not entitled to similar protection," the judges wrote in a nine-page decision that relied on a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case protecting modern artworks.
"The mere fact that they appear in a novel medium is of no legal consequence. Our review if the record convinces us that these 'violent' games contain stories, imagery, 'age-old themes of literature,' and messages, even an 'ideology,' just as books and movies do," the ruling said.
The interactive computer game industry also prevailed in another case heard in the 7th Circuit in Chicago that struck down a similar ordinance in Indianapolis and is challenging a law passed in Washington State last month banning video games that portray violence directed against police officers.
