Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, Wendy, John, Michael, and Captain Hook are some of the

Question

Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, Wendy, John, Michael, and Captain Hook are some of the residents of the State of Neverland. Hook along with several other adults have purchased various video games for themselves or their children. Some of these games contain violent material. The State of Neverland passed a law that prohibited the sale or rental of “violent video games.” The act defined violent video games as games “in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being, if those acts are depicted” in a manner that “[a] reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors.” The association of video game manufacturers and developers brought suit, challenging the Neverland's statute as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment right and a violation of their due process rights because it is so vague. What should the U.S. Supreme Court hold on the constitutionality of the statute and why?

Explanation / Answer

First amendment protects the freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly. These are some of the basic liberties for American citizens and companies alike.

In this case, we need to consider if the video game can be considered a protected item. In order to do that, we need to understand the current video games industry. There are millions of people who work in the industry and many of them work in creative capacity. The graphics, story, details that are put into video games in the current times is as meticulous (if not more) than the traditional art that we are familiar with.

Artistic expressions are protected by the First Amendment and government’s intervention and making laws against them is considered unconstitutional.

The state of Neverland can pass the law to ban video games that are considered violent but needs to justify the reason behind doing so. Without just cause, such prohibition is actually unconstitutional and violates the first amendment that protects the right to free speech.

US Supreme Court should reject the law that prohibits sale of video games (considered violent) to minors. This is because video games are considered art in the digital age and must be extended the same protection that is provided to conventional arts.

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