Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

564 U.S. 786 (2011)

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Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

United States Supreme Court
564 U.S. 786 (2011)

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Facts

A California state law prohibited the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The law applied to games that allowed a player to kill, maim, dismember, or sexually assault an image of a human being, thus rendering the game lacking in serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. Entertainment Merchants Association and others (collectively, Entertainment Merchants) (plaintiffs) filed suit in federal court against California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and others (collectively, Brown) (defendants) arguing the law violated the First Amendment. Brown argued that violent video games tend to make some minors more aggressive. The district found in favor of Entertainment Merchants and concluded that the statute violated the First Amendment. Brown appealed, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Scalia, J.)

Concurrence (Alito, J.)

Dissent (Thomas, J.)

Dissent (Breyer, J.)

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