WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed sympathy for a California law that aims to keep children from buying ultra-violent video games in which players maim, kill or sexually assault images of people.
But several justices said the law faces a high constitutional hurdle before going into effect.
The high court has been reluctant to carve out exceptions to the First Amendment, striking down a ban on so-called "crush videos" that showed actual deaths of animals earlier this year.
California officials argue that they should be allowed to limit minors' ability to pick up violent video games on their own at retailers because of the purported damage they cause.
Violent video games are "especially harmful to minors," said Zackery P. Morazzini, a California supervisory deputy attorney general who argued the case for the state.
California's 2005 law would prohibit anyone under 18 from buying or renting games that give players the option of "killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." Parents would be able to buy the games for their children, but retailers who sell directly to minors would face fines of up to $1,000 for each game sold.
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