Author: Richard Brookman

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has signed a letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship to the Paterson Free Public Library in Paterson, New Jersey.  The letter was sent in response to the library banning the play of first-person shooters on library computers.

The letter takes library officials to task for subscribing to the same unsupported views that led to video game bans in Massachusetts, a presidential recommendation and proposed bill mandating research on video games and violence, and the fallacious claim by one senator that video games are a “bigger problem” than guns. NCAC writes in their letter:

The library has not offered any sound justification for removing access to specific games. Instead, according to published reports, librarians are taking this action to “prevent our kids from learning these behaviors.’’ This assumes that viewers will simply imitate behaviors represented in fictional settings without any independent mental intermediation, a proposition that is palpably false and that the library implicitly rejects by offering access to all sorts of internet sites and maintaining a varied collection of books, magazines, videos and other materials.

The letter further points out that the library is not allowed to selectively ban access to printed materials that are protected by the Constitution, so they cannot do so with video games. Further, library officials are not allowed to remove protected materials simply because they do not like them.

Further, the ban applies to patrons of all ages, including adults, thus violating their First Amendment rights.

Follow the link below to the full article and letter that was sent by the National Coalition Against Censorship:

http://cbldf.org/2013/02/cbldf-signs-letter-protesting-video-game-ban-in-nj-library/