ESA's Lowenstein Speaks Out on Louisiana Legislation
Based on today's story concerning Louisiana's SB340, we asked the ESA to comment on its support of the legislation, which appears on its way to certain passage. ESA president Doug Lowenstein provided his thoughts, addressing both Sen. James David Cain's SB340 and Rep. Roy Burrell's HB1381, which the ESA believes is unconstitutional.
"We oppose HB 1381, which would add video games containing violent content to the State's 'Harmful to Minors' statute, and is no different from other laws already stricken by the courts," Lowenstein said.
"As is consistent with our long standing position going back several years in other states where such modernization of 'Harmful to Minors' laws have been passed with our support, we don't have any objection to adding video games to the Louisiana 'Harmful to Minors' statute as provided in the compromise approach of SB 340 (sponsored by Senator Cain), which would close an existing loophole in the law so that video games are regulated the same as movies. It would also fix fatal flaws in the underlying 'Harmful to Minors' statute to make it constitutional."
Want to talk about it? You can discuss this story via the "comments" feature (click below), or in the new GamePolitics Forums...