A group of four citizens supported by the group Stop Predatory Gambling has filed a lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new daily fantasy sports law.
The suit claims that New York’s new law misclassifies DFS as a game of skill and not a game of chance. As a game of chance, the new law allows for an expansion of gambling in the state and violates the New York state constitution, the suit says.
According to ESPN, the suit was filed in New York Supreme Court on behalf of New York citizens Jennifer White, Katherine West, Charlotte Wellins and Anne Remington. The suit says each of the plaintiff’s has been negatively affected by gambling.
“The plaintiffs seek to protect the public from predatory gambling consistent with the constitution,” lawyers for the group said in a press release. “They also intend to stop FanDuel, DraftKings and other internet gambling operators from exploiting the financially desperate and the addicted in New York.”
The suit also points to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s actions last year when he issued an opinion that daily fantasy sports sites were operating in violation of New York’s gambling laws. Schneiderman did get FanDuel and DraftKings—the two largest DFS operators—to stop taking entries in the state, but the New York State Legislature eventually passed a bill exempting fantasy sports from state gambling law.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo—who is also named in the suit—signed the bill in August and FanDuel and DraftKings resumed operations in the state.
“The state constitution specifically gives the legislature the power to define what is – and what is not – gambling, and the legislature has done so a number of times in the past and long before the emergence of fantasy sports,” a spokesperson for DraftKings and FanDuel told ESPN. “The Attorney General, who certainly has had some strong opinions about fantasy sports, has clearly stated he will enforce and defend this new law. This is a layup. They have no case.”
Stop Predatory Gambling said funding for the suit was raised from individuals and citizen groups in New York.
“We believe in improving the lives of the people of New York,” Les Bernal, the groups national director said in the press release. “Daily fantasy sports gambling is a huge rip-off for all citizens, regardless whether you gamble or not.”
