Game over for video bill; free speech is a concern

Constitutional concerns sank a bill Friday that would have made patently violent video games equivalent to pornography and illegal to sell to minors in Utah. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dave Hogue, R-Riverton, failed to get a favorable vote in the House Judiciary Committee.

The proposal died on a 6-6 stalemate vote that followed a long debate over whether the statute would violate the First Amendment's free speech clause. The tie would allow for an additional committee hearing later.

"I believe we're going to have a constitutional problem and lawsuits on our hands that we can't win (if this bill is passed)," said Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem.

Fowlke had proposed an amendment to HB227 that some members on the committee, including committee vice chairman Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, believed would have alleviated some of the First Amendment concerns.

The amendment would have narrowed the language in the bill to address violent video games specifically.

Attorney Scott Sabey, who was at the hearing representing the Motion Picture Association of America, said his clients believed the bill was unconstitutional.

"This bill is being put into a statute that deals with pornography, and this will make things such as a book not protected speech," he said.

Jim Olsen of the Utah Retail Merchants Association worried the bill would not allow retailers to display newspapers that report a graphic murder or classic materials such as Shakespeare. He said that Fowlke's amendments would have cleaned up the problems the organization had.

But the proposed change failed after Hogue and other HB227 supporters said it would water down the intent of the bill.

Supporters of the bill countered that Shakespeare's works would have serious artistic value, which the statute allows, based on the 1964 Supreme Court decision in Jacobellis v. Ohio.

"We need to protect our children and provide something in the law that says (violent video games) are harmful," Hogue said. "Michelangelo's fine."

The bill's intent was to protect children from games such as Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil by making the violent games legally equivalent to pornography. Knowingly and intentionally giving such games to children would be a third-degree felony.

"Kids are identifying with (video games) as a real world," Hogue said. "I know we teach our kids to defend themselves, but do we teach them to go out and get even?"