Federal District Court Judge Makes Louisiana’s Violent Game Bill Injunction Permanent

Text of Short Summary Judgment Ruling (November 29, 2006)
Text of Preliminary Injunction (August 25, 2006)
Text of Temporary Restraining Order
Text of ESA Complaint
Text of Violent Game Bill (HB 1381)

Hot on the heals of the 7th Circuit’s upholding the permanent injunction against Illinois’ Safe Games Illinois Act’, Federal District Court Judge James Brady issued a bench ruling permanently (followed by this short summary judgment ruling) enjoining the application of Louisiana’s, Jack Thompson-drafted, Violent Game Bill.

ESA’s response to the ruling:

“What makes Judge Brady’s action unusual and remarkable is that he issued his ruling from the bench rather than through a written decision, a strong signal that he felt the State’s arguments were so without merit that they didn’t even require a detailed opinion beyond the Judge’s August decision imposing the preliminary injunction. In his August ruling, the Judge emphasized the State’s failure to take into consideration when passing this law the long line of previous cases holding that video games are protected speech. The ESA will immediately file to recover its legal fees from the State as it has successfully done elsewhere.”

“In nine out of nine cases, federal courts have struck down these grandstanding efforts by politicians to ban video game sales to minors. It doesn’t get clearer than that. One hopes that enough is enough. Video games are like rock and roll: they’re here to stay, and it’s about time for elected officials to focus their energies, and taxpayer dollars, on truly productive and useful programs to educate parents to use the tools industry has made available — from ESRB ratings to parental control technologies.”

Sources: GamePolitics.com | Gamespot |ars technica | GameDaily.biz | Gamasutra

Related Posts

• Preliminary Injunction Granted Against Louisiana Violent Game Bill
• Louisiana Motion Filed To Introduce Minnesota Permanent Injunction Decision
• Jack Thompson’s Louisiana Amicus Curiae Motion Rejected
• Louisiana Senator Defends Violent Games Law
• Judge Hears Arguments on Louisiana Violent Video Games Law

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