Court halts Indiana's violent video game ruling

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Kids who enjoy mutilating and maiming video game monsters will be able to do it for a while longer.

The city on Wednesday was ordered to hold off enforcement, temporarily at least, of its ordinance against children under 18 using violent or sexually explicit coin-operated video games.

The video game industry asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to issue the stay after a federal judge last week ruled the ban on violent games was legal.

Steve Campbell, spokesman for Mayor Bart Peterson, said Indianapolis authorities were just starting to enforce the new ordinance.

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"We had started sending people out to do random visits to different arcades and other sights, basically to educate business owners about what the law is all about," Campbell said.

The ordinance, believed to be the first of its kind, requires coin-operated games featuring graphic violence or strong sexual content to have warning labels and to be kept at least 10 feet from non-offending game machines. They must also be separated by a curtain or wall so minors cannot see them.

The law bars minors from using games unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Businesses can be fined $200 a day for violations. Three violations in one year can mean license revocation.

The City-County Council passed the ordinance July 10, and it was to go into effect September 1. But the American Amusement Machine Association and the Amusement and Music Operators Association, along with a group of Indiana distributors and operators, filed suit against the city in August.

They argued that the ordinance's restriction on games with "graphic violence" were content-based restrictions on free speech, in violation of First Amendment guarantees. They also contended that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague.

Elliott Portnoy, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing the industry associations, said Wednesday he was pleased to see the circuit court respond quickly to his clients' request for an emergency injunction.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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American Amusement Machine Association
Amusement and Music Operators Association
Indianapolis game law

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