Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Schwarzenegger
| Decision Date | 21 December 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. C-05-04188RMW.,C-05-04188RMW. |
| Citation | 401 F.Supp.2d 1034 |
| Parties | VIDEO SOFTWARE DEALERS ASSOCIATION, and Entertainment Software Association, Plaintiffs, v. Arnold SCHWARZENEGGER, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of California; Bill Lockyer, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of California; George Kennedy, in his official capacity as Santa Clara County District Attorney; Richard Doyle, in his official capacity as City Attorney for the City of San Jose; and Ann Miller Ravel, in her official capacity as County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of California |
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., Amy L. Tenney, Ethan D. Dettmer, H. Mark Lyon, Katherine A. Fallow, Paul M. Smith, for Plaintiffs.
Zackery P. Morazzini, Kathryn J. Zoglin, Robert R. Fabela, for Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
[Re Docket No. 5, 27, 28, 41, 48]
Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction prohibiting California state and local officials from enforcing a recently passed law, effective January 1, 2006, which requires violent video games to be labeled and prohibits the rental or sale of those games to minors ("Act"). The Act includes a narrow definition of "violent video games," requires specified labeling of such games and imposes a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for violations. For the reasons given below, the court grants the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.
The plaintiffs are the Video Software Dealers Association ("VSDA") and the Entertainment Software Association ("ESA"), two groups who describe themselves as associations of companies in the video game industry. The defendants are California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, Santa Clara County Counsel Ann Ravel, and San Jose City Attorney Richard Doyle. Kennedy and Ravel ("County defendants") joined the opposition filed by Schwarzenegger and Lockyer ("State defendants"), so the court can generally consider the defendants as a group for the purposes of the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.1
On October 7, 2005, Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 1179, which is to take effect on January 1, 2006, as new California Civil Code §§ 1746-1746.5. The Act will restrict the sale and rental of certain violent video games to minors. Id. § 1746.1(a). The Act contains a two-part definition of a "violent video game":
(d)(1) "Violent video game" means a video game in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being, if those acts are depicted in the game in a manner that does either of the following:
(A) Comes within all of the following descriptions:
(i) A reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors.
(ii) It is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the community as to what is suitable for minors.
(iii) It causes the game, as a whole, to lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
(B) Enables the player to virtually inflict serious injury upon images of human beings or characters with substantially human characteristics in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel, or depraved in that it involves torture or serious physical abuse to the victim.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, the following definitions apply:
(A) "Cruel" means that the player intends to virtually inflict a high degree of pain by torture or serious physical abuse of the victim in addition to killing the victim.
(B) "Depraved" means that the player relishes the virtual killing or shows indifference to the suffering of the victim, as evidenced by torture or serious physical abuse of the victim.
(C) "Heinous" means shockingly atrocious. For the killing depicted in a video game to be heinous, it must involve additional acts of torture or serious physical abuse of the victim as set apart from other killings.
(D) "Serious physical abuse" means a significant or considerable amount of injury or damage to the victim's body which involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, substantial disfigurement, or substantial impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. Serious physical abuse, unlike torture, does not require that the victim be conscious of the abuse at the time it is inflicted. However, the player must specifically intend the abuse apart from the killing.
(E) "Torture" includes mental as well as physical abuse of the victim. In either case, the virtual victim must be conscious of the abuse at the time it is inflicted; and the player must specifically intend to virtually inflict severe mental or physical pain or suffering upon the victim, apart from killing the victim.
(3) Pertinent factors in determining whether a killing depicted in a video game is especially heinous, cruel, or depraved include infliction of gratuitous violence upon the victim beyond that necessary to commit the killing, needless mutilation of the victim's body, and helplessness of the victim.
Id. § 1746(d).
On October 17, 2005, the plaintiffs filed a complaint, and two days later, a motion for a preliminary injunction, seeking to prevent enforcement of this new law. The plaintiffs claim the Act is unconstitutional and specifically assert that: (1) video games are a form of expression protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, even for minors, (2) the Act's definition of "violent video game" is unconstitutionally vague, and (3) the labeling provisions of the Act run afoul of the First Amendment. The State and County defendants assert that the Act is narrowly tailored to further a compelling state interest, and that it is neither impermissibly vague nor violative of the First Amendment.
California is not the first state to attempt to limit minors' access to violent video games. While the Ninth Circuit has yet to consider the the legislature's ability to implement such regulation, the Seventh and Eighth Circuits have found specific ordinances on the subject run afoul of the First Amendment. See Am. Amusement Mach. Ass'n v. Kendrick, 244 F.3d 572 (7th Cir.2001); Interactive Digital Software Ass'n v. St. Louis County, 329 F.3d 954 (8th Cir.2003). Several district courts have also struck down similar ordinances. See Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Maleng, 325 F.Supp.2d 1180 (W.D.Wash.2004), Entm't Software Ass'n v. Blagojevich, ___ F.Supp.2d ___, 2005 WL 3447810 (E.D.Ill.2005) (granting permanent injunction); Entm't Software Ass'n v. Granholm, 2005 WL 3008584 (E.D.Mich. Nov. 9, 2005) (granting preliminary injunction).2
The decision to grant a preliminary injunction is within the discretion of a district court. United States v. Peninsula Communications, Inc., 287 F.3d 832, 839 (9th Cir.2002). There are two tests for determining whether a district court may grant a preliminary injunction. Under the traditional test for granting preliminary injunctive relief, the applicant must demonstrate: "(1) a likelihood of success on the merits, (2) the possibility of irreparable injury to plaintiff if the preliminary relief is not granted, (3) a balance of hardships favoring the plaintiff, and (4) advancement of the public interest (in certain cases)." Dollar Rent A Car of Wash., Inc. v. Travelers Indem. Co., 774 F.2d 1371, 1374 (9th Cir.1985). Alternatively, the moving party must show "that serious questions are raised and the balance of hardships tips sharply in favor of the moving party." Stuhlbarg Intern. Sales Co., Inc. v. John D. Brush and Co., Inc., 240 F.3d 832, 839-40 (9th Cir.2001). These alternative showings "represent extremes of a single continuum, rather than two separate tests." Clear Channel Outdoor Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 340 F.3d 810, 813 (9th Cir.2003) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).
First, the court considers the plaintiffs' claim that the Act is unconstitutionally vague, as an impermissibly vague definition of "violent video game" would leave nothing for the defendants to enforce and render the Act unconstitutional as a whole.
The plaintiffs claim the Act is unconstitutional because it is impermissibly vague. The Act's definition of "violent video game" is a unique amalgam, but this alone does not make it unconstitutionally vague. Section 1746(d)(1)(A) is essentially the obscenity standard from Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 88 S.Ct. 1274, 20 L.Ed.2d 195 (1968), but directed towards depictions of violence instead of depictions of nudity or sex. Section 1746(d)(1)(B) uses the phrase "especially heinous, cruel, or depraved," which appears to have been taken from Arizona's statutory list of aggravating factors for considering whether to impose the death penalty. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703.F.6 (2005).3 The defendants submit that the definition under the Act is "exceedingly narrow." State Opp'n at 18.
Although "we can never expect mathematical certainty from our language," a restriction must be particularly clear if it "abuts upon sensitive areas of basic First Amendment freedoms." Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972) (parentheses removed). This precision is required even for regulations designed to protect children:
It is essential that legislation aimed at protecting children from allegedly harmful expression — no less than legislation enacted with respect to adults — be clearly drawn and that the standards adopted be reasonably precise so that those who are governed by the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Video Software Dealers Association v. Schwarzenegger
...violated equal protection. The district court granted Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Schwarzenegger, 401 F.Supp.2d 1034 (N.D.Cal.2005). Subsequently, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The district court granted Plaintiffs......
-
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. v. Kan. State Fair Bd.
...thinks unsuitable for them.” Erznoznik, supra, at 213–214, 95 S.Ct. 2268.Id. at 2735–36.See also Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Schwarzenegger, 401 F.Supp.2d 1034, 1045 (N.D.Cal.2005) (“[t]he prevailing view, and the one this court will follow, is that limitations on a minor's access to vi......
-
E.S.S. Entertainment v. Rock Star Videos
...San Andreas clearly qualifies as an "artistic work" entitled to First Amendment protection. See Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Schwarzenegger, 401 F.Supp.2d 1034, 1044 (N.D.Cal.2005) (stating that video games, "even though mere entertainment, are nonetheless protected by the First Amendmen......
-
Entertainment Software Ass'n v. Granholm
...Ass'n v. Blagojevich, 404 F.Supp.2d 1051 (N.D.Ill.2005) ("E.S.A.") (granting preliminary injunction), Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Schwarzenegger, 401 F.Supp.2d 1034 (N.D.Cal.2005) (granting preliminary STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) empowers the cour......