MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

To the editor:

Firearms are dangerous when in the wrong hands. So is the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in the hands of three Chicago federal judges, when it is used as a shield to promote the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors.

Wrapping themselves in the cloak of freedom of speech, a Washington-based lobbying clique labeled as the Entertainment Software Association, alleges that an Illinois law barring the sale of sexually explicit video games to minors is unconstitutional.

Permitting the sale of these games is not about freedom of speech. It is about the exploitation of juveniles, no different than the exploitation of children in child pornography.

These video games impress children and dysfunctional adults with the idea that sexual perversion and violence are normal behavior and should be rewarded.

In a recent unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Ann Clair Williams wrote, "the danger of giving too much censorship power to the state over materials intended for young persons," as their justification to bar the enforcement of the law.

These three judges are dangerously confused about what freedom of speech is. This law is not censorship, it is the fulfillment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's duty to protect Illinois from the growing encroachment of perverts.

Allowing these perverted games to infect children is comparable to giving a child a loaded firearm.

A higher court with superior wisdom will approve this law.

Charles D. Sullivan
Waterloo