Illinois Agrees To Pay $520,000 In Game Bill Legal Fees

According to a report from the Associated Press, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's administration has agreed to pay the $520,000 in attorney’s fees and interest resulting from the ESA and others' fight against the state's successfully blocked game law by late January. The original case attorneys noted in November that they planned to seek federal assistance in claiming the money owed, plus interest, and last week a federal judge gave both Blagojevich and his attorney general until December 18 to provide a plan on how the money would be paid back. The report notes that lawyers representing Blagojevich and Attorney General Lisa Madigan have now filed papers in federal court in Chicago indicating that the money will be paid from “unspent money in the budgets of several agencies under the governor.” In December 2005, Illinois district judge Matthew S. Kennelly issued a permanent injunction regarding the implementation of the law, dubbed the Safe Games Illinois Act, which would have required retailers to use warning labels in addition to the existing ESRB labels, as well as post signs within stores explaining the ESRB rating system. In addition, sale of offending games to minors would have earned stores a $1,000 fine on a petty offense, while failure to post explanatory signage would draw a $500 fine for the first three violations and $1,000 for each subsequent count. The court's injunction was recently upheld by the Court of Appeals, effectively killing the would-be legislation.