The strange, contentious situation surrounding the legal defense of Louisiana's video game law has gotten even stranger and more contentious.

Yesterday, Miami attorney Jack Thompson (left) forwarded to GamePolitics a pair of e-mails. The first was from Deputy Louisiana Attorney General Burton Guidry to Thompson, sent late Wednesday afternoon:

"Ok Mr. Thompson, put up or shut up. I need affidavits and other documentation to defeat a motion for summary judgment. If you really want to help just get me the affidavits and some scientific data that can defeat this motion as soon as possible. Time is of the essence since [the game industry's motion] has been filed today. I need the information by Monday in my hands for filing. Can you and will you?"

Guidry is referring to the video game industry's motion for summary judgment, filed with Federal Judge James Brady's court earlier that day.
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Are lives really at stake in the legal fight over Louisiana's video game law, or has the situation devolved into a finger-pointing battle of bruised egos?

Over the last 18 months GamePolitics has reported extensively on anti-game attorney Jack Thompson's relentless crusade against video game violence. Nowhere during that time has Thompson enjoyed the kind of political success he found recently in Louisiana. Readers will recall that Thompson drafted the state's video game law, testified on its behalf, and basked in its unanimous approval by the legislature.
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Louisiana newspapers are providing additional coverage to the stinging judicial rebuke which a federal judge administered to the state's controversial video game law on Thursday evening.

An AP report out of Baton Rouge quotes Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (pictured) on the judicial reversal:

"I'm calling on all parents to diligently monitor the video games that their children are allowed to play. If the courts can not protect our children, then we need to do it by rejecting the merchant of violence," she said.

The Advocate spoke with a disappointed Rep. Roy Burrell (D), sponsor of the bill.

"If you can train a military-type person using these video games, you can do it to kids," Burrell told the newspaper. He added that courts aren't yet ready to accept that premise.

GP: Maybe the court would pay more attention if Burrell provided some, you know, evidence, rather than the nonsense he put forth during the legislative debate on the bill. Just a thought. Judge Brady took note of this as well when he wrote in Thursday's ruling:

"The evidence that was submitted to the legislature in connection with the bill that became the statute is sparse and could hardly be called in any sense reliable. Much of the 'evidece' presented consisted of newspaper articles on the evils of video games..."
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In today's column GP examines the circus atmosphere surrounding Louisiana's video game legislation. It's especially timely given Federal District Court Judge James Brady's trashing of the Louisiana law in a preliminary injunction ruling issued last night.

By the way, it looks like the GP column will appear every Friday on Joystiq. There was some discussion of Thursdays, but that's the day GP feeds his WoW addiction...

State Rep. Roy Burrell (D) is standing by his man.

The sponsor of Louisiana's contested video game law refused to be drawn into the nasty fight Jack Thompson picked in recent days with Attorney General Charles Foti (D) and his deputy, Burton Guidry (see yesterday's GP coverage for details).
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Controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson appears to be burning bridges in Louisiana, the state where he has enjoyed the most success to date in his long-standing crusade against violent video games.

A series of e-mails forwarded to GamePolitics by Thompson detail a rapidly deteriorating relationship with the office of Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti. Foti is a named defendant in ESA/EMA vs. Foti, the video game industry's constitutional challenge to the state's recently-passed video game law.
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The fallout continues from Friday's hearing on the video game industry's challenge to the Louisiana game law drafted by Jack Thompson.

As reported by GamePolitics on Friday, Federal District Court Judge James Brady expressed obvious criticism of the Louisiana law from the bench - a bad sign for the video game legislation sponsored by Rep. Roy Burrell (D) and written by Thompson.

Today's Shreveport Times has more, including Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti's vow, expressed by Assistant Burton Gudiry that, "The office of the attorney general is going to defend this all the way to the (U.S) Supreme Court."

Some of Guidry's remarks at Friday's hearing seemed scripted by Jack Thompson, as when Guidry said that video games "teach a kid how to kill, how to rape, how to defile a person, how to kill an officer. Video (game industry) people hide behind the fact that it's a cartoon."
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Today marks an important court date for the video game industry, the state of Louisiana and for Miami attorney and anti-game activist Jack Thompson.

Attorneys representing the ESA (game publishers) and EMA (game retailers and renters) will face off against the Louisiana Attorney General's office in Federal District Court in Baton Rouge. At the hearing, the game industry will seek a preliminary injunction to block the state's new video game law from taking effect.

GamePolitics readers will recall that Louisiana Rep. Roy Burrell's violent video game bill was largely drafted by game industry nemesis Thompson. Gov. Kathleen Babineux Blanco signed the legislation into law earlier this month, and the new statute was scheduled to take effect immediately. However, in response to the video game industry's lawsuit, Federal District Court Judge James Brady issued a temporary restraining order pending today's hearing.
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A federal judge in Baton Rouge has issued a temporary injunction which blocks Louisiana's new violent video game law from taking effect. As written, the measure would have been in force immediately upon becoming law late last week. A hearing on the matter is scheduled in Baton Rouge for June 30th.

As readers will recall, GamePolitics broke the news that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) signed HB1381 into law on Thursday evening. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Roy Burrell (D) and largely drafted by controversial anti-game attorney Jack Thompson, seeks to define violent games as "harmful to minors," using the same legal standard by which obscenity is determined.
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