According to an Entertainment Software Association (“ESA”) press release, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a preliminary injunction against the Chicago Transit Authority (“CTA”) practice of banning M-rated video game advertisements. The case considered the constitutionality of a CTA ordinance that prohibited any advertisement that “markets or identifies a video or computer game rated ‘Mature 17+’ (M) or ‘Adults Only 18+’ (AO).” In the opinion, Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer stated, “…the advertisements the CTA wishes to ban promote expression that has constitutional value and implicates core First Amendment concerns.”
ESA President and CEO Mike Gallagher stated that the “ruling is a win for Chicago’s citizens, the video game industry and, above all, the First Amendment.”
Bus advertising is a persistent hot spot for first amendment litigation. After viewing many of the banned game ads (one is pictured above), I think the court came to the proper conclusion. The ads themselves are in no way obscene or inappropriate, so I find it difficult to believe that the CTA had any compelling interested in limiting this commercial speech in a public forum.
Read the full press release here.
