The state of Minnesota is being forced to own up to its politicians' errors.  As Team Xbox reports, the ESA announced today that the state has paid them 65,000 USD in legal fees and expenses "incurred as a result of their successful challenge to Minnesota’s unconstitutional video game law"; they've been awarded a total of $2 million in legal fees after prevailing over similar laws in nine other jurisdictions.

$65,000 may not seem like much in the context of an entire state government, but as we all know, all that funding comes from the people, who will be footing the bill this time as well.  CEO of the ESA Michael D. Gallagher has had plenty to say regarding the issue:

"Minnesota’s citizens should be outraged at paying the bill for this flawed plan. Minnesota’s public officials ignored legal precedent and instead pursued a political agenda that ultimately cost taxpayers money.  Courts across the United States have ruled consistently that video games are entitled to the same First Amendment protections as other forms of art, such as music and literature.”

The law that caused all this trouble for Minnesota does seem flawed, considering it penalizes minors for renting or purchasing Mature and Adult Only rated games.  On July 31, 2006, Judge James M. Rosenbaum issued a permanent injunction halting the legislative shenanigans, stating that there was no evidence suggesting video games alone caused any injury to children.  The Courts then investigated the matter and concluded the law unconstitutional:

"…several other states have tried to regulate minors' access to video games. Every effort has been stricken for violating the First Amendment....The Court will not speculate as the motives of those who launched Minnesota's nearly doomed effort to 'protect' our children. Who, after all, opposes protecting children? But, the legislators drafting this law cannot have been blind to its constitutional flaws."

Gallagher continues to chastise the politicans responsible, proposing "that the key to protecting our children from inappropriate media content is not haphazard legislation, but rather parental education" and that there really are far better uses for public funds than "unconstitutional legislation," which only works against the system in the long run.

I've personally never been carded by a game store, but retailers seem to make the call based on rough age estimation, perhaps by assuming that anyone over the age of 12 possesses enough common sense to deal with mature content.  Yet in my own experiences, the child beside me picking up a copy of Grand Theft Auto is almost always accompanied by an parent.  Should the store employee still ask for ID or be obligated to inform the adult of the game's contents?  If parents won't educate themselves with what the industry has given them (a pretty clear rating system), does it fall upon retailers to hold their hands?