The three judge panel from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that will hear the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) argue why the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is unconstitutional has been named. The Third Circuit will hear the case on July 7th at 10:00am ET.
At the District Court level, Judge Mary L. Cooper disagreed with many of iMEGA’s reasons why the UIGEA should be declared unconstitutional. However, she granted the trade organization standing to sue, prompting an appeal to the Third Circuit. Now, over a year later, lawyers for iMEGA will receive their day in court. Democratic Presidents appointed two of the three judges named to the Court of Appeals panel, leaving many in the industry optimistic that the UIGEA challenge may be successful.
President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Dolores Sloviter to the Third Circuit in 1979. She is the veteran of the panel and served as the Third Circuit’s Chief Judge from 1991 to 1998. iMEGA Executive Director Joe Brennan told Poker News Daily, “I think this is an interesting panel. Judge Sloviter was part of the panel that blocked the Communications Decency Act, which is a landmark case in internet law.” The panel in question ruled that the Act, which dealt with internet pornography, was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
President Bill Clinton appointed Judge Thomas Ambro to the Third Circuit in 1999 and Congress approved him one year later. Brennan noted, “Judge Ambro’s best known decisions have consistently upheld First Amendment rights and civil liberties.” Besides First Amendment rights, iMEGA notes that the UIGEA should be “void for vagueness.” Online poker players know all too well that the UIGEA failed to identify what activities are permissible. In response, credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard have blocked legal online lottery purchases in New Hampshire and North Dakota. To iMEGA, this “over-blocking” is an example of the shortcomings of the 2006 law.
The third and final judge to make up the panel that will hear lawyers for iMEGA and the U.S. Department of Justice debate the constitutionality of the UIGEA is Kent Jordan, appointed by George W. Bush. On whether any residual influence from the Bush Administration will affect Jordan’s views, Brennan commented, “Even Judge Jordan, with his extensive corporate law background, may potentially recognize the undue burden that UIGEA places on banks and credit card companies. Despite assumptions the industry may make on his being nominated by President Bush, who signed the UIGEA, or his religious background, I think this is a good panel.”
Taking the case on behalf of iMEGA is Eric Bernstein, who argued the case in front of Judge Cooper, and Stephen Saltzburg, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States. Nicholas Bagley and Jacqueline Coleman will represent the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and Federal Reserve, who collectively serve as the defendants in the case. In a press release distributed by iMEGA, Brennan noted that he is looking forward to an objective panel: “This law will finally have to stand on its own two feet in court, free from politics and all other outside influences. We feel very confident that when the judges take a look at the law, they will see just how defective it is and they will overturn it.”
The organization is fresh off a victory in Minnesota, where the state’s Department of Public Safety rescinded orders to 11 of the world’s largest internet service providers that called for the blockage of 200 internet gambling domain names. iMEGA filed suit to stop the action, effectively ending the Department of Public Safety’s attempts at censorship. If successful, USA-friendly sites like Bodog, Full Tilt Poker, and Players Only would have been inaccessible by Minnesota residents. In addition, a host of online poker rooms that do not accept U.S. customers would also have been blocked.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the iMEGA legal challenge.
