New Hampshire District Court rules Wire Act only applies to sports betting
Judge rejects 2018 Wire Act Opinion and rules in favour of New Hampshire Lottery Commission in case against Attorney General William Barr
The District Court of New Hampshire has ruled in favour of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission’s (NHLC) argument that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting.
The court held that the Wire Act is limited to sports wagering and found that state lottery and vendors were exempt from the act.
As part of a 63-page ruling, Judge Paul Barbadoro wrote: “I hereby declare that § 1084(a) of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084(a), applies only to transmissions related to bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest. The 2018 OLC Opinion is set aside.”
The ruling also addressed the NCLC’s concerns about being part of a multi-state lottery agreement, which the 2018 opinion would have deemed illegal.
BREAKING: New Hampshire federal judge vacates the DoJ’s 2018 Wire Act reinterpretation and issues 60-page opinion concluding that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting. Grants New Hampshire Lottery’s motion for summary judgment and denies DoJ’s motion to dismiss.
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) June 3, 2019
Anthony Cabot, member of the board of advisors for the UNLV International Center for Gaming Regulation, said: “The DOJ will likely appeal the decision to the circuit court, which is an unfortunate waste of taxpayer money. In the interim, this should quell some of the anxiety surround the DOJ’s precipitous and politically charged change of direction.”
The case, brought against US Attorney General William Barr by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, sought an injunction on the DOJ’s 2018 Wire Act opinion which stated the act applied to all forms of online gambling.
The revised opinion brought with it a host of lawsuits against the DOJ, including one put but industry trade association iDEA Growth.
Back in April the DOJ claimed its revised opinion did not impact lotteries, in what the industry considered to be an attempt to defuse the federal case brought against it.