You probably already know about the video game industry's recent victory against the state of California in the highest court in the land… I'm talking about the Supreme Court of the United States! Woo!!! YES YES YES! Oh… *ahem* sorry, it's just exciting to know that video games are offered the same first amendment protections as movies, music, books, and even poetry.
What you might not know about these legal trials and tribulations is that they don't come cheap. In fact, the Entertainment Software Association has filed for $1.1 MILLION in reimbursement from the State of California for attorneys' fees and other legal costs of fighting Brown/Schwarzenegger V. EMA. The ESA states:
California persisted in defending a law that Plaintiffs warned the Legislature was unconstitutional before it was passed; that was previously founded to be unconstitutional by the district court and a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit; and that is similar to at least either other laws invalidated as unconstitutional prior to the time that California sought certiorari in this case.
You know, as a California resident, taxpayer, and… fan of video games, I kind of wish the State could have backed off back in 2008 when it was forced to pay up $282,794 for similar claims from the ESA….
