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Oklahoma: On June 23, the ESA filed suit against House Bill 3004, which was signed into law by Governor Brad Henry and was set to go into effect on November 1, 2006. According to Doug Lowenstein, President of the ESA, “What [lawmakers] won’t tell voters: we just picked your pocket to the tune of a half million dollars, the amount the state will have to reimburse the ESA after the inevitable decision is made to strike down the law.” Judges will have to rule before November 1, and we’ll keep you updated as the lawsuit proceeds.

Louisiana: After the ESA filed suit in Louisiana, Judge James Brady heard arguments on June 30th on whether to extend his temporary restraining order, to effectively halt the new law from going into effect until he can make a more permanent ruling. The Judge indicated that he will rule on this issue shortly. In response, the Attorney General of Louisiana has said that he will take this fight all the way to Supreme Court. Ted Price, President and Founder of Insomniac games, provided tremendous support by filing a declaration in support of the ESA’s suit, explaining that games are a free form of _expression.

Minnesota: As we reported previously, the ESA has challenged Minnesota bill SF785, which is set to go into effect August 1st. Judge James Rosenbaum heard arguments on July 11th on the ESA’s request that the court to overturn this law completely.

California: The word is still out on whether California bill AB1179 will be permanently prevented from taking effect. In December, 2005, the law was temporarily halted by the California district court, which will make a decision soon on whether to completely invalidate this law.

Illinois: After the ESA’s victory in obtaining an injunction against the Illinois violent and sexually explicit video game laws last November, the state appealed only the portion of the ruling that applies to sexually explicit games. The oral argument on the appeal was held in early June, but so far there hasn’t been a final decision from the 7th Circuit.

Michigan and Illinois: After obtaining permanent injunctions against legislation in these states, the ESA has filed claims demanding that both states reimburse them for their legal fees in these cases. Perhaps states will start to realize just how costly and ineffective these laws really are if they are forced to pay legal fees!

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