Category: State Criminal Law
Proposed Gaming Bill Could Make Nevada First to Legalize Internet Poker
Nevada, long an innovator when it comes to gambling, may soon take another big step in that direction by becoming the first state to legalize online poker. A bill just introduced in that state’s legislature would require the state’s Gaming Commission to license operators of Internet poker as long as they meet basic standards regarding… Read More
California Court OKs Warrantless Search of Cell Phone
The text messages in a defendant’s cell phone are in no way different, for the purposes of a police search after an arrest, from the defendant’s clothing or a cigarette package. That was the holding of the California Supreme Court on January 3, 2011, in People v. Diaz, a case in which the state’s highest… Read More
A New Turn for Washington State’s Online Poker Law
After the unanimous rejection by the Washington State Supreme Court of a lawsuit that attempted to overturn the state’s draconian ban on online poker, proponents of the game now say that they’re going to go to the state legislature and try to get the law repealed, rather than pursue the challenge in the U.S. Supreme… Read More
A Conservative Argument For Legalizing Online Gambling
Conservative columnist Michelle Minton just wrote an interesting op-ed piece for Forbes.com on why Republicans, and by extension, conservatives in general, should favor legalized Internet gambling. Minton’s arguments come in the wake of the recent passage by the House Financial Services Committee of a bill that would legalize Internet gambling, including online poker, in the… Read More
Arizona Immigration Statute: DOJ Raises Law Enforcement Issues
On July 6, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to prohibit the enforcement of the controversial new anti-immigration law passed by the state of Arizona in April. See, for example, the helpful summary in the blog of Legal Times. DOJ is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prohibit the enforcement of… Read More
A Rubashkin Acquittal: Did the Prosecutor Go Too Far?
Former Agriprocessors, Inc. executive Sholom Rubashkin was acquitted in Iowa state court on Monday, June 7, 2010, on all 67 counts of child labor violations relating to 26 teenagers from Latin America who worked at Rubashkin’s kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. The jury reached its verdict during the second day of deliberations. During the… Read More
Poker as a Game of Skill
Whether poker is determined to be a game of chance or a game of skill has tremendous implications for defendants charged under state and federal gambling laws. This issue was recently litigated by a group of defendants charged under state gambling laws in South Carolina. The defendants demonstrated to the satisfaction of the trial court… Read More
IFRAH Law
