NH Lottery Wins Case Against DOJ's Wire Act Revisions Case
A federal district court ruled against the Justice Department's review of the Wire Act, which banned all interstate online gambling.
Court disagrees with Wire Act amendment of 2019
Internet interstate gambling may gain momentum again after The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled Wednesday in favor of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission (NHLC), rejecting amendment to Federal Wire Act issued by Department of Justice in 2019 r. The court agreed with a 60-page opinion a judge of the District Court Paul Barbadoro issued in June 2019, That the Wire Act of 1961 is limited to interstate sports betting .
W 2011 year, the DOJ interpreted the ambiguous law and limited the ban inter-state transfers to sporting events before he issued the amendment Wire Act z 2 November 2018.annulling that decision in 2019 r., Under Trump's Justice Department. The decision was aimed at banning interstate internet gambling.
"We hold that plaintiffs' claims have merit and that the Wire Act applies only to interstate communications related to sporting events or contests. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's grant of plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment and its denial of the government's motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment," the court's conclusion reads.
W 2002 year The Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled already that Wire Act is limited to interstate sports betting .
Gambling experts are worried
The ruling raised hope in the online poker community which has been particularly affected a ban on interstate iGaming and the online gambling sector.
However, industry experts and analysts have found that decision First Circuit in on Inauguration Day maybe do more harm than good for online gambling because Biden administration would revisit the Justice Department's 2011 revision of the Wire Act. According to a gambling specialist and attorney Daniel Wallach, the new administration will take no further action on this matter, and ruling issued on Wednesday hindered decide greater positive impact on sector online gambling. The government was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal to NHLC.
Status quo remains in sports betting, but the new administration is not expected to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court because Joe Biden was vice president, when the vote was taken on revise z 2011 .
