| Real
Casinos> 2007
- Real Casinos News Archive>
Washington Lawyer Challenges Internet Poker Ban
Constitutional violation and protectionism cited
A Renton, Washington lawyer has filed a lawsuit challenging the
Washington state ban on Internet poker, the Seattle Intelligencer
newspaper reports.
Lawyer Lee Rousso (49) filed his complaint in the King County Superior
Court, claiming that the 2006 ban on internet poker is a direct
violation of the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause, which prohibits
individual states from enacting laws that discriminate against interstate
businesses.
Rousso, a poker player who has experience in both land tournament
and online poker, says the ban, which makes online poker a Class
C felony smacks of protectionism for the widespread internal state
gambling industry, which embraces almost every other form of gambling.
Rousso, who is the Washington representative of the 570 000 strong
Poker Players' Alliance pressure group said the "first legal
challenge to the law also should be the last." The lawyer told
the Seattle Intelligencer that he thought his chances of success
in overthrowing the law were "darn good."
The complaint lists seven points to illustrate why the Washington
State law is unconstitutional, and specifically notes that the author
of the original bill, State Sen. Margarita Prentice, received contributions
from the Washington casinos, alleging that these companies "were
the intended and/or actual beneficiaries of SB 6613." Rousso
is seeking a declaratory judgment against the bill, which would
render it void and unenforceable.
The Washington state ban came into law on Bill SB 6613 in the state
last year and prohibits Internet based card and other casino games.
A spokeswoman for the Washington Gambling Commission, Susan Arland
said their lawyers have not yet seen the lawsuit and would comment
only after they have read it. "We don't have anything to say
just just yet," said Arland.
Rousso said the state law is "flawed", arguing that the
state measure was passed not to put the state in compliance with
the federal Wire Act. "Instead," he said, it "protects
the in-state gambling industry, including card rooms and casinos."
"This," said Rousso, "puts Washington in clear conflict
with the Constitution's Commerce Clause", which forbids individual
states from passing protectionist laws against other state's business.
|
