Just as the 2006 hurricane season begins, the Louisiana state legislature has passed a bill to protect minors from...dangerous video games. Ars Technica reports that LA state bill HB1381 is headed to the desk of Governor Kathleen Blanco who is expected to sign it into law, despite the fact that "it's a near certainty that the courts will bar enforcement of the law due to First Amendment concerns." It seems the bill is similar to legislation blocked by courts in Illinois, California, and Michigan and was drafted in part by well-known anti-video game activist Jack Thompson.

Ars clearly doesn't think much of the ambiguous phrasing in the bill, which prohibits, among other things, games that appeal "to the minor's morbid interest in violence" according to "contemporary community standards." Indeed, in an earlier post, Gamasutra noted that "the law itself leaves retailers exposed, with no clear definition as to what is and is not appropriate to sell to a minor."