ROYAL OAK – Oakland County Democrats and law enforcement officials vowed today to continue their efforts to keep violent and sexually explicit video games out of the hands of children after a federal court struck down a new state law barring stores from selling or renting violent video games to minors.
"We are committed to the fight to protect our kids from these explicit video games," said State Representative Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak). "It's outrageous that stores would place profits over the protection of Michigan children. We will work to make sure these video games don't end up in our kids' hands."
Oakland County Democrats pushed for the Legislature to pass laws barring stores from selling or renting violent and sexually explicit video games to minors. In early March, they joined law enforcement officials in calling for a boycott of "25 to Life," a video game that urges players to kill police officers. They also support a House resolution urging citizens and the Legislature to sign a petition from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund that calls for a boycott of "25 to Life." The petition is at: www.nleomf.com/25tolife.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Detroit ruled against the Michigan video-game law, which Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm signed in September. The judge called the law unconstitutionally vague. A growing body of scientific evidence links violent video games to increased aggression, including a landmark study to be published later this year directly linking violent video games to aggression.[1]
"These violent video games have no place in our community," said State Representative Paul Condino (D-Southfield). "The fight to keep our children from harm is by no means over."
The effort to keep violent games out of kids' hands also has the law enforcement community's support.
"I'm surprised and appalled at the judge's ruling," said Southfield Police Chief Dr. Joseph E. Thomas Jr. "People don't want video games that train kids to kill – this has nothing to do with freedom of speech. I wonder what the court would do if these same companies came out with a video game that awarded extra points for killing judges."