In breaking news out of the United States, it was revealed that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals will hear lawyers from the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) argue why the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is unconstitutional.
Last March, Judge Mary L. Cooper granted the organization standing to sue on behalf of the internet gambling industry. However, she disagreed with many of iMEGA’s arguments in the process, prompting the appeal. In a letter from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, its clerk informed the parties involved that the case has “been tentatively listed on the merits on Monday, July 6, 2009 in Philadelphia [Pennsylvania]. It may become necessary for the panel to move this case to another day within the week of July 6, 2009. Counsel will be notified if such a change occurs.” Further information will be given as to whether oral arguments will be heard, and if so for how long, within one week of the disposition date.
Within seven days, iMEGA and attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice must advise as to who will serve as counsel in the proceedings on July 6th. Each party must also identify whether its attorney is a member of the bar of the Court. iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan is looking forward to the organization’s day in court, which is now just two months away. He told Poker News Daily, “The court is going to look at the entire case without technicalities and filing dates. They are going to solely decide it on the merits, not based on anything political or regarding procedure. That’s why you have a judicial system.”
iMEGA is in the midst of a spat with the Federal Government over whether information on the North Dakota and New Hampshire lotteries should be included in the record. Since its brief was filed, iMEGA has learned that customers trying to purchase legal lottery tickets with credit cards are being blocked from doing so. State lotteries have a specific carve-out from the UIGEA. The issues have arisen apparently due to the onset of the UIGEA regulations, which were enacted on January 19th and command full compliance by the financial services industry by December 1st. The regulations have caused Visa and MasterCard to engage in over-blocking rather than risk breaking the law.
The Department of Justice claims that because the new information was not filed by the proper deadline in iMEGA’s brief, it should not be included in the record. Also absent from iMEGA’s official brief are the final regulations of the UIGEA, which were accepted by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in November as so-called “midnight rules.” Brennan told Poker News Daily why the request to supplement the record might be taken seriously by the Court of Appeals: “They are aware that their decision is going down in the history books. They know, we know, and the Department of Justice knows that not accepting our information may be grounds for an appeal.” If unsuccessful, iMEGA could appeal once again to the Third Circuit or seek the intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Originally, the Third Circuit had asked iMEGA for its availability this month for oral arguments. On the two month delay, Brennan speculated, “It tells me that the Court is giving the case more serious consideration than a lot of people thought they were.” There has been no indication as to when the Court of Appeals will decide the future of iMEGA’s request to supplement the record. The case is numbered 08-1981 and is entitled “iMEGA v. Attorney-General USA, et al.”
iMEGA is also a leading party in the case pitting the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet against the owners of 141 internet gambling domain names, which risk forfeiture. iMEGA has until June 1st to file its brief in the case.