Jack Thompson's Game Bill Moves Forward

Gamespot reports that the Jack Thompson-penned anti-games bill currently being considered by the Louisiana Senate Judiciary Committee has been approved, and will now go to the full Senate for debate. From the article: "According to the text of the bill, it would be illegal to sell, rent, or lease a game to a minor if it met the following three conditions: (1) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the video or computer game, taken as a whole, appeals to the minor's morbid interest in violence. (2) The game depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors. (3) The game, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."

Comments

Re:I support a law to protect children, BUT

[kthejoker]

All three of these criteria have a long-standing judicial precedent (see Miller v. California, 1973, and the many cases that led up to it through the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.)

They are extremely well-crafted, in that it is hard to prove something is obscene/overly violent/unacceptable, but if something can be proven to be just that, there is very little wiggle room for appeal.

Your arguments (witless and trollish as they come across) are exactly the same debates that go on when judges try to determine whether something is obscene, offensive, or objectionable in this country already. Within the minutiae of any given subject, arguments can be made that this is of an "artistic value", is not "patently offensive", etc. That's why we have the judicial process.

And PS "community standards" means the community surrounding the point of sale, usually defined as the city, township, or sometimes county depending on the level of incorporation. So, yes, Penthouse can be banned in Knoxville, Tennessee but still be legal in Hartford, Connecticut. But banning it in Knoxville doe snot also ban it in Hartford.

Seriously, could you bother to read even the slightest bit of jurisprudential history before commenting so dumbly on well-written legislative texts?

Re:Uh..

[Pollardito]

1) How did your 9 year old get the money to buy GTA?

he got it from his 40 year-old boyfriend

2) How did your 9 year old get to the mall to buy GTA?

his 40 year-old boyfriend dropped him off

3) How did your 9 year old get it home without you knowing?

he didn't bring it home, he plays it at his 40 year-old boyfriend's house

4) How did your 9 year old play it at home without you being aware?

see #3

hah, now who's feeling all smart and assured of their genius!