US DOJ Allows Appeals Window to Expire in Wire Act Online-Gambling Case
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The US Department of Justice has allowed the time window to expire for appealing the Wire Act case. The current Biden administration tacitly acknowledged the correctness of the 2020 First Circuit ruling that declared the 1961 Wire act unconstitutional. It is a major win for US regulated online poker. Sheldon Adelson, the longtime chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp, lost his effort to keep the original interpretation of Wire law in place. The DOJ’s decision to abandon its efforts to police interstate online gambling at the federal level is also a victory for the concept of “states” rights.
The Wire Act case that the DOJ allowed to expire is only binding on states and territories in the First District. 26 states' attorneys general signed a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to rescind the 2018 re-reinterpretation of the Wire act. New Jersey's attorney general joined the letter. The letter calls on DOJ to go on record as officially reverting to its Obama-era position that Wire acts applies to only sports-betting-related activity. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on New York's casino industry. It was worse in New Hampshire.
