Judges bar law on violent video games

updated 8:52 p.m. ET March 17, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS - A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction against a Minnesota law that would have kept children under 17 from renting or buying violent video games.

A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Minnesota has a compelling interest in the psychological health of children.

But the judges wrote that the state didn't have enough proof that violent video games cause psychological harm and agreed with a lower-court judge that Minnesota went too far when it passed the law two years ago.

Under the law, kids under 17 would have faced a $25 fine if they rented or bought a video game rated "M" for mature or "AO" for adults only. The law also would have required stores to put up signs warning of the fines.

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