The Department of Justice’s attempts to sidestep Federal Court rulings relating to the Wire Act forces Lawmakers from Georgia and Kentucky to threaten their funding. But have they learnt their lesson?
American gamblers once again find themselves in the middle of the ongoing tug-of-war between Federal and State lawmakers, however, this time the Department of Justice (DOJ) may have gone so far as to risk losing their funding!
The DOJ has a very shadowy history with the online gambling sector. First, the underhanded way in which the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was slipped into the SAFE Port Act in 2006 and more recently they’ve faced accusations of bribery and payoffs by parties with a vested interest in Las Vegas.
✓The Wire Act Redefined
The issue at hand is the DOJ’s recent declaration that the Federal Wire Act should be expanded to include all forms of gambling activities, not just sports betting. This is a position that is completely incongruous with the specific language of the Wire Act as well as previous statements by the DOJ as to the scope of the Wire Act.
The Interstate Wire Act 1961 uses the following language to create the setting for its intent:
“Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest”
At the time of its implementation the use of “wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets” meant using a telephone line to call your local bookie to place a bet.
Naturally with the advent of the internet the nature of wire communications has changed however the Act was never updated specifically to include games of chance, rather it has stuck to “bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest” which has led many Circuit Court rulings to confirm that casino games do not form part of its purview.
✓First The Stick…
It was the blatant disregard for years’ worth of reviews and rulings in this regard that eventually led Congressional Lawmakers to put their foot down with DOJ and threaten to pull their funding as a warning to let the issue lie.
Their disrespectful response to having a Federal Court Judge rule against their proposed inclusionary take on the wording of the Act, rather than take the loss, was to fire back that they would take simply press the issue again in 2020.
In response Georgia Representatives, Hank Johnson and Sanford Bishop, along with Andy Barr of Kentucky fired a warning shot of their own. They penned an amendment to the bill that determines Federal payments to the DOJ which read:
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to enforce the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel memorandum entitled ‘Reconsidering Whether the Wire Act Applies to Non-Sports Gambling’.”
✓And Then The Carrot!
While the amendment was quietly removed the message was clear “stop wasting our time”.
We can only hope that the time has come for the DOJ to be moved on the truly important issues at hand and allow the successful first steps taken by New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware to mature and bear fruit.
The USA could become a world leader in online gambling implementation, cohesive State-based regulation and synergy between land-based and online casinos if the DOJ and Vegas-friendly lobbyists could be forced to step aside and let the industry flourish.
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