Today In The Law

birdman.jpgThe Susan Polk trial was in recess today, but it was still a pretty busy day for the local courts, which decided:

*that kids who failed the state high school exit exam can still graduate if they've met all other requirements, because many of the students who didn't pass were in substandard schools.

*that tuna doesn't need a mercury warning label, because that's something the FDA should decide. Besides, there's not that much mercury in tuna. What would Ross Mirkarimi say (in that deep basso voice)?

*and that violent video games probably won't need a warning label either, because -- it's called the First Amendment, haters! Courtwatchers say that Leland Yee's bill just got blown up by a first-person shooter.

Comments (4) [rss]

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Oh crap. There goes Leland's flags-for-orphans act. If they were smart, these lawmakers would ban deciding the constitutionality of new laws until after an election year.

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I don't understand. Aren't the violent video games already rated M and no one will sell them to minors? Am I wrong? When my son bought Grand Theft Auto, they wouldn't sell it to him until I was standing next to him. Or was this video store just overly cautious?

In fact, the most recent FTC study showed that game retailers card minors for M-rated games at about the same rate that they do for R-rated movies -- 65% and 69% of the time, respectively -- which Leland himself has said is good enough.

I'm having a hard time coming up with polite ways to explain what Leland is doing.

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The video game industry competes with the movie industry, all too successfully it would seem.

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