{"id":101329,"date":"2019-03-25T10:07:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=101329"},"modified":"2019-03-25T10:07:18","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:07:18","slug":"doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Files Motion to Dismiss New Hampshire Challenge to Wire Act Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, the US Department of Justice filed a motion dismiss a lawsuit<\/a> brought by the New Hampshire Lottery that challenges its new Wire Act opinion.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Wire
US AG William Barr may have had his hands full with the Mueller Report, but a motion to dismiss the New Hampshire lawsuit suggests he fully supports the new interpretation of the Wire Act. (Image: CNN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In January, the DOJ\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel published the updated opinion of the 1961 federal Wire Act — which deals with intrastate gambling — stating the act\u2019s prohibitions were \u201cnot uniformly limited to gambling on sporting events or contests,\u201d in doing so jeopardizing online lottery and gaming operations across the United States.<\/p>\n

New Jersey and Pennsylvania\u2019s attorneys general have suggested criminal charges could be brought against operators \u201ceven where the interstate transmission of information is merely incidental to betting that is otherwise entirely lawful under state law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opinion was released during an interim period at the DOJ, when Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whittaker was in charge, before the new Attorney General William Barr took office.<\/p>\n

DOJ Won\u2019t Lie Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many have suggested the timing was suspicious and that the new opinion may have been a political favor for LVS chairman Sheldon Adelson, a Republican megadonor and longstanding opponent of regulated online gaming.<\/p>\n

\n

Barr\u2019s own feelings about the Wire Act and its new interpretation are unknown, although he is a strong states\u2019 right advocate. But any suggestion that he is prepared to let online gaming off the hook — or that the DOJ would back down in the face of legal challenges — has been blown out of the water by its 32-page motion to dismiss.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Fifteen states have filed amicus briefs in support of the New Hampshire lawsuit, which seeks an injunction to stop the enforcement of the Wire Act opinion. New Hampshire has become the stage of the fightback because a precedent exists in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves New England, that refers to the Wire Act as a law that prohibits online sports betting only.<\/p>\n

Case \u2018Lacks Standing\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The New Hampshire lawsuit states: \u201cThe effect of the 2018 opinion is to extend criminal liability under [the Wire Act] far beyond betting on sporting events or contests to include virtually any conceivable form of gambling, which could encompass state-conducted lotteries.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a construction of the statute is not faithful to the text, structure, purpose, or legislative history of the text,\u201d it adds.<\/p>\n

The DOJ claims it is, and that the New Hampshire suit \u201clacks standing\u201d and fails \u201cto identify a credible threat of prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

This suggests the DOJ believes states should first wait to be prosecuted — and potentially face losing millions revenues — before challenging its opinion, which is not something they are prepared to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, the US Department of Justice filed a motion dismiss a lawsuit brought by the New Hampshire Lottery that challenges its new Wire Act opinion. In January, the DOJ\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel published the updated opinion of the 1961 federal Wire Act — which deals with intrastate gambling — stating the act\u2019s prohibitions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":101337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,60,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ Files Motion to Dismiss Challenge to Wire Act Opinion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Department of Justice wants a lawsuit blocking enforcement of the new Wire Act opinion, backed by 15 other states, to be dismissed, a sure sign that it will not back down from the opinion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ Files Motion to Dismiss Challenge to Wire Act Opinion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Department of Justice wants a lawsuit blocking enforcement of the new Wire Act opinion, backed by 15 other states, to be dismissed, a sure sign that it will not back down from the opinion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-25T17:07:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bill.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/\",\"name\":\"DOJ Files Motion to Dismiss Challenge to Wire Act Opinion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bill.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-25T17:07:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-25T17:07:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"The Department of Justice wants a lawsuit blocking enforcement of the new Wire Act opinion, backed by 15 other states, to be dismissed, a sure sign that it will not back down from the opinion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/doj-files-motion-to-dismiss-challenge-to-wire-act-opinion\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bill.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bill.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"US AG William Barr may have had his hands full with the Mueller Report, but a motion to dismiss the New Hampshire lawsuit suggests he fully supports the new interpretation of the Wire Act. 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