Minnesota To Appeal Struck Down Game Law

According to an Associated Press news report, Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch has formally announced his intentions to appeal a law struck down one month ago that would have prohibiting minors from renting or buying explicit or violent video games. The law, struck down July 31st by U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum, would have taken effect on August 1 and fined children under age seventeen $25 for buying or renting video games rated M for mature or AO for adults only. Stores would also have been required to post signs in large font drawing attention to the restrictions. Attempts were made, but ultimately not included in the bill, to penalize retailers who sell or rent such video games to young people. In his statement striking down the law, Judge Rosenbaum commented that the state failed to show evidence that the graphic nature of video games caused harm to children, and wrote that "there is a paucity of evidence linking the availability of video games with any harm to Minnesota's children at all." The attorney general said more than 1,000 studies have linked aggressive behavior in children to media violence. He said the state law would have involved parents in decisions over video games sought by their children. In response, Hatch responded: "There's been some pretty good evidence that children who use these excessively violent video games really learn inappropriate behavior and they're rewarded for inappropriate behavior - how many people do you kill and things like that." In his most recent statement, Hatch added, "If the parents aren't troubled by their kids playing these games, they can buy them for their children."