Fed appeals court affirms injunction against Minn. video game law

Video games
Competitors play video games on monitors during the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit event in East Rutherford, N.J.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction against a Minnesota law that would have kept children under 17 from renting or buying violent video games.

A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a lower-court judge that Minnesota went too far when it passed its law two years ago.

The law would have hit kids under 17 with a $25 fine if they rented or bought a video game rated "M" for mature or "AO" for adults only. It also would have required stores to put up signs warning of the fines.

The appellate justices say they accept that Minnesota has a compelling interest in the psychological health of children. But they wrote that the state didn't have enough proof that violent video games cause psychological harm.

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