Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Speaking of Causation Problems...
“But for Posey’s use of these products. . . he would not have killed,” according to the complaint in the civil suit seeking to blame a manufacturer for the murder of a family by a son.
The "products" in question? Perhaps, oh, readily-available handguns? Medications causing psychosis? Nope. A videogame, which somehow, via use of a joystick (which, to my untrained eye, looks rather unlike a gun), "how to point and shoot a gun in a fashion making him an extraordinarily effective killer without teaching him any of the constraints or responsibilities needed to inhibit such a killing capacity."
The WSJ law blog points out that the plaintiffs' attorney, Jack Thompson, is rather prolific in suits seeking to blame media, videogames, etc., for crime.
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/2006/09/speaking_of_cau.html
Perhaps Thompson is thinking that the video game taught the boy the hand-eye coordination necessary to be a good shot? In which case, I would ask, did the boy play little-league baseball? Of course, the assertion that the video game company is negligent by selling an amoral product is impressive if only for its brazenness.
Posted by: Seth | Sep 27, 2006 1:33:53 PM