By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill. – A federal appeals court Monday upheld an earlier ruling that an Illinois law regulating sexually explicit video games is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago decreed that a law Governor Rod Blagojevich pushed that bars the sale of mature games to minors violated First Amendment speech protections.
A spokeswoman for the attorney general, who is representing Blagojevich, says lawyers are reviewing the opinion.
Blagojevich signed the law in July 2005, making it a crime to sell violent games or those with sexual content to youngsters. A federal judge in December threw it out.
Blagojevich appealed the ruling on sexually explicit material. The video game industry, which sued Blagojevich, is also seeking $510,000 in legal fees the judge ordered be paid in August.
LEGAL FEES
Meanwhile, Gov. Blagojevich's failure to pay legal fees in that lawsuit is costing taxpayers more by the day.
Each day, $71 in interest is added to the unpaid $510,000 fee awarded in the lawsuit over regulating violent and sexually explicit video games.
Since a federal judge ordered the Blagojevich administration to pay on August 9, the amount has increased by about $7,800.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled Blagojevich's video game law unconstitutional last fall. The plaintiffs' lawyers never got an answer on payment, so they returned to the judge for help.
Kennelly will decide next month whether to set a deadline for payment. A Blagojevich spokesman would not discuss the fee payment beyond saying the state will comply with any court order.
He refused to explain why the administration hasn't complied with the August court order or when it will do so.