chicago-transit-authority posts

Fighting for First Amendment rights has lead to a victory in court for the trade group the Entertainment Software Association. This week the ESA announced that The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has granted them a preliminary injunction in fighting an ordinance from thttp://blogsmith.aol.com/content/posts/create/he Chicago Transit Authority. The ordinance, which was passed a year ago, prohibited games with an "M" or "AO" rating from being advertised on their buses.

The ESA filed a lawsuit against the ordinance in July and this week Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer granted the ESA its request for an injunction keeping the ordinance from being enforced until the court case is finally completed. The judge stated, "...the advertisements the CTA wishes to ban promote expression that has constitutional value and implicates core First Amendment concerns."

The Entertainment Software Association has sued and has been successful in keeping laws restricting the sales of "M' rated games from being implemented in many states. Now the US game trade organization is putting up its legal dukes once again, this time over some new rules that have been passed by the Chicago Transit Authority.

Specifically, the CTA passed Ordinance 008-147 in January. That move would ban any bus ads that promote games that were rated "M" or "AO". The ESA's suit contents that the ordinance violates First Amendment free speech laws, stating it "restricts speech in a public forum that is otherwise open to all speakers without a compelling interest for doing so." So far the CTA has not responded to the lawsuit.