Controlling Communications That Teach or Demonstrate Violence: “The Movie Made Them Do It”

Johnson J.G. Cohen P. Smailes E. M. Kasen S. Brook J.S. , “Television Viewing and Aggressive Behavior During Adolescence and Adulthood,” Science 295 (2002): 2468–2471, at 2470.

See, e.g., Elmore v. American Motors Corp., 451 P.2d 84 (Cal. 1969)

Codling v. Paglia, 298 N.E.2d 622 (N.Y. 1973).

Rotunda Ronald D. , “Current Proposals for Media Accountability in Light of the First Amendment,” forthcoming, Journal of Social Policy, Philosophy, and Law (2004): 1–74, at 6–7.

128 F.3d 283 (4th Cir. 1997).

178 Cal. Rptr. 888 (Cal. App. 1981).

536 N.E. 2d 1067 (Mass. 1989).

814 F.2d 1017 (5th Cir. 1987).

361 So. 2d 776 (Dist. Ct. Fla. 1978).

249 Cal. Rptr. 187 (Cal. App. 1988).

Id. at 190.

Brill L. W. , “The First Amendment and the Power of Suggestion: Protecting ‘Negligent’ Speakers in Cases of Imitative Harm,” Columbia Law Review 94 (1994): 984–1044, at 987 (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts, §§ 281, 302–302B (1965)). For a thorough and engaging account, See O'Neil Robert M. , The First Amendment and Civil Liability (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001): 137–62.

Sanders v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., 188 F. Supp. 2d 1264 at 1272 (D. Colo. 2002).

Id.

James v. Meow Media, 300 F. 3d 683, 693 (6th Cir. 2002).

Id. at 693.

Federman J. , ed. National Television Violence Study, Executive Summary, Volume 3 (Santa Barbara: Center for Communication and Social Policy, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997); at 5.

Report of the Federal Trade Commission, Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recordings & Electronic Game Industries (FTC, Sept. 2000), Appendix A, “A Review of Research on the Impact of Violence in Entertainment Media,” at 9.

American Booksellers v. Hudnut, 771 F.2d 323, 329 n. 2 (1985).

Brill, supra note 11, at 1033.

James v. Meow Media, 300 F. 3d at 699.

Campbell Christopher , “Murder Media—Does Media Incite Violence and Lose First Amendment Protection?” Chicago-Kent Law Review 76 (2002): 637–69, at 664

In Zamora v. State, 361 So.2d 776 (Dist. Ct. App. Fla. 1978), the defendant attempted to defend a murder conviction based on the allegation that he was insane on account of “involuntary subliminal television intoxication.” The Florida courts rejected the defense.

Restatement (Second) Torts, § 402A.

See, e.g., James v. Meow Media, Inc., 300F.3d 683 (6th Cir. 2002)(victims of Paducah school shooting unsuccessfully claimed that the violent content of defendants' video games, movie, and internet transmissions constituted product defects that caused the shooter to act violently)

Wilson v. Midway Games, Inc., 198F. Supp.2d 167 (D. Conn. 2002)(boy stabbed with kitchen knife by a boy who was allegedly obsessed with the video game Mortal Combat unsuccessfully sued for product liability court finds a video game is not a product for purposes of the relevant state statute)

Davidson v. Time Warner, Inc., 1997 U.S. Dist LEXIS 21559 (S.D. Texas 1997)(victim of shooting by young man who had been listening to a tape of rap songs titled 2PocalypseNow, which contained lyrics that expressed extreme hostility to law enforcement, unsuccessfully claimed that the tape was an inherently dangerous product).

See generally O'Neil , supra note 10, at 107–19.

Rod Smolla , Deliberate Intent (New York: Crown Publishers, 1999): At 38–39.

Rice v. Palladin, 128 F.3d at 236.

Id. at 239.

Id.

Rice v. Paladin Enterprises, Inc., 940 F. Supp. 836 (D. Md. 1997).

Rice v. Paladin, 138 F.3d at 233.

Id.

Id. at 241.

Id. at 253–55.

186 F. Supp. 2d 1140 (D. Ore. 2001).

Id. at 1144.

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964).

128 F.3d at 264–65.

128 F.3d at 267.

395 U.S. 444 (1969).

Id. at 447.

Id. at 247.

Id. at 249.

Id. at 262.

Id. at 265, quoting Brief of Amici at 3, 22.

Id.

Id. at 265–66.

Miller v.California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973).

v. Ferber, New York, 458 U.S. 747 (1982).

v. Ashcroft Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234 (2002).