April 16, 2007 -
The U.S. District Court Judge who ruled that Louisiana's Jack Thompson-authored 2006 video game law was unconstitutional has ordered the state to pay the video game industry's legal fees, to the tune of $92,000.In his ruling, Judge James Brady (left) issued a blistering criticism of the Louisiana legislative process which led to the passage of the law:
The court is dumbfounded that the attorney general and the state are in the position of having to pay taxpayer money as attorneys fees and costs in this lawsuit. The act which this court found unconstitutional passed through committees in both the State House and Senate, and to be promptly signed by the Governor.
There are lawyers at each stage of this process. Some of the members of these committees are themselves lawyers. Presumably, they have staff members who are attorneys as well. The State House and Senate certainly have staff members who are attorneys. The governor has additional attorneys - the executive counsel.
Prior to the passage of the Act there were a number of reported cases from a number of jurisdictions which held similar statutes to be unconstitutional (and in which the defendant was ordered to pay substantial attorney's fees). The Court wonders why nobody objected to the enactment of this statute. In this court's view the taxpayers deserve more from their elected officials.
Despite Judge Brady's surprisingly frank repudiation of both the video game law and the process that led to its passage, bill sponsor Rep. Roy Burrell (D) told Acadiana TV station KATC-3 he may try to pass another such bill in the future.
GamePolitics has the most complete coverage of the volatile Louisiana video game situation available anywhere.
Comments
of course he'll "find" a link. all college kids are nothing but drunks who play those awful murder/rape/satanist/voteDemocrat/punchababy/converttoIslam simulators.
duh!
Accordingly, both JT and Rep. Roy Burrell should be institutionalized to protect the nation from future harm.
It's pretty disgraceful that they'd flush so many hundreds of thousands of dollars on this bill - and then go on to plan another! - when there are so many, more worthwhile, projects that the money could be used on, especially in Louisiana.
I just had this vision of Judge Brady stopping for a second, grabbing some bits of card from behind the bench, and handing it to the state reps, going "here's your sign". :D
I agree with VioletSon. The politicians will argue that the $92,000 was "worth it" to "try to save the children"... Horray for spin...
Is anyone shocked? That exploitationist monster was probably rubbing his grubby hands as soon as he heard the news. He's probably already trying to find out anything he can about the victim's families so he can "grieve with them," and leave them with a business card at the same time.
My greatest fear for America is that one day these worthless windmill-jousting leaders will infiltrate the judiciary branch of government, then our nation is DOOMED.
92,000, rofl.
that's awesome.
@gameclucks:
It's a concern, but probably not as bad as you think. The advantage we have is that the laws bozos like Burrell are trying to pass are so blatantly unconstitutional that it's not even a question of whether it should be struck down. Any judge, whether he/she personally agrees with the legislation or not, would be EXTREMELY hard-pressed to let it go through and still keep their seat. It'd be totally obvious that they weren't impartial, and besides, said ruling would probably get wiped out via appeal anyway.
Still, it's always nice to hear a voice of reason and from someone of come authority.
As I have noted repeatedly on this blog, every single effort to regulate the sale of video games to minors has (correctly) been struck down by courts. Every single time.
Which of course is not stopping New York's activist governor, Eliot S......