Washington State constitunional challenge in court april 25

02/23/2008

The Poker Players' Alliance reports that Seattle lawyer Lee Roussos has been given a court date for his challenge to the constitutionality of the Washington state ban on Internet gambling, which makes offenders liable to Class 3 felony penalities normally reserved for serious personal crimes.

Rousso has informed the PPA that his long-awaited and state-delayed hearing is now scheduled for the morning of April 25 and he plans to file his brief before the hearing on or before March 28. The PPA will publicise a full copy of the brief.

"I hope Washington State poker players will come to the hearing and show their support," Rousso says in his PPA communication.

Rousso, who is also the PPA regional representative for Washington state, filed the lawsuit mid-2007, claiming that the state's online gambling ban fails to comply with the Wire Act passed by the federal government, which has never extended criminal liability to the players, something the Washington legislation does.

The Rousso case additionally accuses Washington state of imposing its ban on online gambling to protect a diverse and extensive land gambling industry approved and taxed by the state government - a violation of the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause forbidding individual states from passing protectionist laws (see previous InfoPowa reports).

State legal tactics have delayed Roussos' day in court, necessitating an appeal action, but the determined lawyer now appears to be positioned to raise some interesting and very public questions regarding a ban that singles out online gambling in a state that appears to recognise almost all other forms of the pastime on land.