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Gaming Guru
The Ten Most Important Events In Gaming Law
31 July 1999
By I. Nelson Rose
Here are what I believe are the ten most important events in gaming law
of this century. (I decided it would be impossible to look back over the
millennium, although the Statute of Anne of 1710 -- which even today
makes most gambling debts legally unenforceable -- seems to deserve a
mention.)
-
United States Supreme Court decides The Lottery Case - 1903. This is
one of the most important decisions ever handed down by the high
Court, not just for legal gambling, but for the country. States were
being swamped by Louisiana Lottery tickets, and they asked the federal
government for help. Congress responded by passing a statute, still on
the books, making it a federal crime to send lottery tickets across
state lines.
For the first time, the Supreme Court held that the federal
government had power over a legal product, simply because it was
involved in interstate commerce. This created the modern, massively
powerful federal government, since virtually everything involves
interstate commerce.
-
Nevada Legislature legalizes casino gaming - 1931. Actually, it
re-legalized casinos. Nevada had legal casinos off and on until
1909, when they fell victim to the anti-gambling crusades of the era.
Apparently everyone in Nevada knew that the prohibition was just for
show. Casinos remained open when they were legal, then illegal, then
legal again. But if the law had not been changed in 1931, it is
doubtful that Bugsy Siegel would have built his fabulous Flamingo in
the middle of the Nevada desert.
-
New Hampshire authorizes a state lottery - 1962. The first state
lottery of this century, and the birth of a multi-billion dollar
industry, with yearly sales six times as large as the nation’s movie
theaters.
-
New Jersey legalizes casino gaming - 1976. Significant in itself,
Atlantic City also showed that casinos could be put near big cities
without having the state fall into the sea.
-
American Psychiatric Association recognizes pathological gambling as
an official "mental disease or disorder" - 1980. Although explicitly
designed not to have any legal significance, there are great
legal consequences when doctors testify that gambling to excess is a
symptom of an illness. For example, criminal law does not punish
people for being sick -- even embezzlers.
-
United States Supreme Court decides Cabazon - 1987, which leads to the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act - 1988. The Court and then Congress
reaffirmed the right of tribes to offer any form of gambling permitted
by the state where their land is located. Congress may have thought it
was legalizing high-stakes bingo, but what it got was coast-to-coast
casinos.
-
Iowa legalizes riverboat casino gaming; first sailing - April 1, 1991.
On a slow news weekend, the launching of these picturesque riverboats
was carried by every TV network. Legislators in a dozen other states
immediately entered bills to climb aboard, figuring, "If it is safe
enough for conservative Iowa, it must be O.K. for us."
-
National Gambling Impact Study Commission - 1996-1999. Created as a
political ploy by the "anti’s," this Commission will have an impact
long after it is gone. Although the final Report will not result in
any new laws, over the last two years government agencies have had to
take a serious look at issues they had successfully ignored, like
problem and underage gamblers. The industry has had to put on its best
face. In the process, it created programs to protect its patrons and
local communities.
-
Australian states legalize Internet gambling - 1998-1999. The first
First World nation to create a sophisticated system of government
licensing, oversight and player protection. The Model Act being
adopted Down Under is already being copied by smaller Caribbean
island-nations. More importantly, one of the great barriers to
Internet growth has now fallen: players can trust the operator and the
game.
-
United States Supreme Court decides to hear New Orleans Broadcasting -
1999. The Ninth Circuit, in the far West, ruled casinos may broadcast
commercials over radio and television. But the Fifth Circuit said the
Ninth was wrong, and barred casinos in Mississippi and Louisiana from
the airwaves.
The Supreme Court cannot dodge the issue: either casinos may
advertise in their own states or they may not. But the Court will
probably avoid deciding whether stations in neighboring non-casino
states may carry casino commercials. So, we will have to wait for
the top ten of the 21st century to know for sure whether TV and
radio in California and New York may broadcast ads for casinos in
Nevada and Atlantic City.
This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net.

Professor I. Nelson Rose is an internationally known scholar, public speaker and writer and is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on gambling law. A 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a tenured full Professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, where he teaches one of the first law school classes on gaming law. Professor Rose is the author of more than 300 books, articles, book chapters columns. He is best known for his internationally syndicated column, "Gambling and the Law ®," and his landmark 1986 book by the same name. His most recent book is a collection of columns and analysis, co-authored with Bob Loeb, on Blackjack and the Law. A consultant to governments and industry, Professor Rose has testified as an expert witness in administrative, civil and criminal cases in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, and has acted as a consultant to major law firms, international corporations, licensed casinos, players, Indian tribes, and local, state and national governments, including Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas and the federal governments of Canada and the United States. With the rising interest in gambling throughout the world, Professor Rose has spoken before such diverse groups as the F.B.I., National Conference of State Legislatures, Congress of State Lotteries of Europe, United States Conference of Mayors, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has presented scholarly papers on gambling in Nevada, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, England, Australia, Antigua, Portugal, Italy, Argentina and the Czech Republic. He is the author of Internet Gaming Law (1st & 2nd editions), Blackjack and the Law and Gaming Law: Cases and Materials.
I. Nelson Rose Websites:
www.gamblingandthelaw.com
Books by I. Nelson Rose:
> More Books By I. Nelson Rose
|
Professor I. Nelson Rose is an internationally known scholar, public speaker and writer and is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on gambling law. A 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a tenured full Professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, where he teaches one of the first law school classes on gaming law. Professor Rose is the author of more than 300 books, articles, book chapters columns. He is best known for his internationally syndicated column, "Gambling and the Law ®," and his landmark 1986 book by the same name. His most recent book is a collection of columns and analysis, co-authored with Bob Loeb, on Blackjack and the Law. A consultant to governments and industry, Professor Rose has testified as an expert witness in administrative, civil and criminal cases in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, and has acted as a consultant to major law firms, international corporations, licensed casinos, players, Indian tribes, and local, state and national governments, including Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas and the federal governments of Canada and the United States. With the rising interest in gambling throughout the world, Professor Rose has spoken before such diverse groups as the F.B.I., National Conference of State Legislatures, Congress of State Lotteries of Europe, United States Conference of Mayors, and the National Academy of Sciences. He has presented scholarly papers on gambling in Nevada, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, England, Australia, Antigua, Portugal, Italy, Argentina and the Czech Republic. He is the author of Internet Gaming Law (1st & 2nd editions), Blackjack and the Law and Gaming Law: Cases and Materials.
I. Nelson Rose Websites:
www.gamblingandthelaw.com
Books by I. Nelson Rose:
> More Books By I. Nelson Rose
|