August 10, 2005, Introduced by Reps. Lemmons, III and Lemmons, Jr. and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled
"The Michigan penal code,"
(MCL 750.1 to 750.568) by adding sections 143a, 143b, and 143c.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 143a. (1) The legislature finds that minors who play
violent video games are more likely to do 1 or more of the
following:
(a) Exhibit violent, asocial, or aggressive behavior toward
others, including other minors.
(b) Experience feelings of aggression.
(c) Experience a reduction of activity in the frontal lobes of
the brain, which are responsible for controlling behavior.
(2) Although the video game industry has adopted its own
voluntary standards describing which games are appropriate for
minors, those standards are not adequately enforced. Minors are
capable of purchasing, and do purchase, violent video games.
(3) This state has all of the following compelling interests:
(a) Preventing violent, aggressive, and asocial behavior.
(b) Preventing psychological harm to minors who play violent
video games.
(c) Preventing physical harm to the victims of violent minors,
including other minors.
(d) Eliminating any societal factors that may inhibit the
psychological and neurological development of its youth.
(e) Facilitating the healthy maturation of the youth of this
state into well-meaning, productive adults.
Sec. 143b. As used in this section and sections 143a and 143c:
(a) "Minor" means an individual who is less than 17 years of
age.
(b) "Video game" means an object or device that stores
recorded data or instructions, receives data or instructions
generated by anyone who uses it, and, by processing the data or
instructions, creates an interactive game capable of being played,
viewed, or experienced on or through a computer, gaming system,
console, or other technology.
(c) "Violent video game" means a video game to which all of
the following descriptions apply:
(i) It depicts human-on-human violence in which the player
kills, seriously injures, or otherwise causes serious physical harm
to a human or character with substantially human characteristics,
including, but not limited to, depictions of death, dismemberment,
amputation, decapitation, maiming, disfigurement, mutilation of
body parts, or criminal sexual conduct, in a manner that is
especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. A depiction of violence
is especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel if it contains all of
the following elements:
(A) It depicts exceptional pain or suffering on the part of
the victim and is accompanied by a graphic depiction of the
victim's injuries.
(B) The violence is accomplished in the commission of an act
that would be punishable as a crime if it were committed in
reality.
(C) The circumstances surrounding the violence indicate that
it is committed without conscience, pity, or empathy.
(D) It is accompanied by auditory or other sensory elements
that serve to enhance the realism of the visual depiction.
(ii) Taken as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, and scientific value for minors, and the average person,
applying contemporary statewide values, finds it appeals to minors'
morbid interest in violence.
Sec. 143c. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a
person shall not sell or rent a violent video game to a minor.
A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of
not more than $5,000.00, or both.
(2) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under subsection
(1) that the person acted in good faith. Good faith exists if all
of the following conditions applied at the time the violation of
subsection (1) occurred:
(a) The minor showed the person identification that appeared
to be valid and that contained a photograph and a date of birth
purporting to show that the minor was 17 years of age or older.
(b) The person did not have independent knowledge that the
minor was under 17 years of age.
(c) Based upon subdivisions (a) and (b), the person complied
with the video game ratings established by the entertainment
software rating board.