On February 15 the state of New Hampshire sued the Department of Justice over its recent memo reversing a previous policy on the federal Wire Act.
The newest interpretation is considered by several states, including New Hampshire as potentially preventing the state’s iLottery system from selling online lottery tickets.
The lawsuit names just sworn U.S. Attorney General William Barr and the DOJ as defendants, and the United States of America..
Others have joined the suit, including Neopollard, a technology and service provider for the New Hampshire Lottery, and iDEA Growth, a trade group advocating for regulated online gaming—and the parent company of Online Poker Report.
Neopollard, which provides similar services to lotteries in Michigan and Virginia, is seeking a declaratory judgement against the department. Its lead attorney is Theodore B. Olson, former U.S. Solicitor General who has argued 63 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, 75 percent of them successfully.
New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney has also threatened to file suit on behalf of his state.
In filing for iDEA Growth’s lead attorney Jeff Ifrah writes: “We trust that the New Hampshire Court will give appropriate weight to judicial precedent over political factors in making its decision, a decision sure to have a major impact on a fast-growing industry poised to offer significant economic benefits to states across the country.”
The federal Wire Act dates back to 1961, when it was part of then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s war on organized crime. In many ways it is almost a relic of the distant past, especially as it is interpreted to apply to today’s technology.
At the time the feds sought to try to dry up the mob’s money which was in large part derived from illegal sports betting and horse racing. It targeted the rapid transmission of gambling data and telephone services.
The challenge to the new interpretation includes Olson’s assertion that it is taking a major step without congressional authorization and could wreak the burgeoning new online poker and lottery industries. Not to mention online sports betting.
In his brief he writes, “Congress does not hide elephants in mouseholes, or in misplaced punctuation.”
Olson also argues that billions of dollars in iGaming are threatened by the new interpretation.
The plaintiffs also assert that the original purpose of the Wire Act was to attack illegal bookmaking rather than all forms of gaming. They quote RFK as saying that its purpose was to disrupt “race wire services.”
