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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Letting minors get their hands on video games having what Rep. David Hogue considers to be "inappropriate violence" would be a crime under legislation he is proposing.
The Riverton Republican's bill would add "inappropriate violence" to the law that makes the distribution or showing of pornography and explicit nudity to minors a felony.
His definition of inappropriate violence includes -- among other things -- violence used to shock or stimulate, violence that holds the plot together, violence that trivializes the serious nature of realistic violence and violence that endorses or glorifies torture or excessive weaponry.
"I feel real strong that violence should be in (the statute)," Hogue says. "We need to give parents a tool to protect their children."
However, Eagle Forum president Gayle Ruzicka fears the law could be used by the state to remove children from their parents.
And Margaret Plane, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Utah, said the bill likely is unconstitutionally vague.
"You can't just stick violence into an obscenity statute and expect it to stand up to constitutional scrutiny," Plane said. "Obscenity is not protected speech. Government can regulate obscenity. The courts have not said the same thing about violence."
The courts hold that even juveniles have First Amendment rights, she said. "There has to be a compelling basis that the harms are caused by the violent video games."
The video-game industry rates its games for violence, obscenity and nudity as E for everyone, T for teenagers, M for mature (17 or older) and A for adult.
"The rating system is a good thing," said Casey Allred, manager of Recycled Games in Salt Lake City. "We don't sell (restricted) games to minors."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
