On Wednesday, the online poker world could potentially be turned upside down. The verdict in the case that pits the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky against 141 internet gambling domain names is scheduled to be released on Wednesday. However, how and when the decision will be rendered during the day is up in the air.
Judge Thomas Wingate is scheduled to hand down the historical ruling on Wednesday. When asked what time the ruling would be announced, his secretary stated that although she could not confirm a time or range of times, “The expectation is to rule on Wednesday.” Ed Leyden, President of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) who argued in the courtroom last Tuesday on behalf of the internet gambling sites, told Poker News Daily that he wasn’t surprised to hear that no timeline was given: “We also have every expectation that a decision is going to come out on Wednesday. I’m not surprised that no one from the court would go out on a limb.”
Possible ways that the verdict could be released would be a formal hearing with lawyers from both sides of the case. iMEGA and other organizations have representation standing by in Frankfort in anticipation of a verdict being released. Judge Wingate could also state that he needs more time to decide the outcome of the monumental case, which he described as “complex.”
Leyden argued in front of the Judge last Tuesday that Governor Beshear’s actions to rid the state of online gambling by making 141 major domain names inaccessible to its residents violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Other arguments against the seizure order centered on whether internet gambling was illegal in Kentucky and whether the Commonwealth had jurisdiction over domain names at all. Also brought up was the operation of the website TwinSpires.com, which accepts wagers from Kentucky residents and is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated. CDI is based in the state and traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol “CHDN.”
Beshear’s actions have also attracted the attention of organizations like the Americans for Tax Reform and the Bluegrass Institute. Jim Waters, the Director of Policy and Communications for the Bluegrass Institute, wrote in an opinion piece that appeared in the Georgetown News-Graphic newspaper, “We better not gamble our freedom away by allowing the government to choose what Web sites we access – even for activities some find objectionable but that don’t harm others. If we allow this, it won’t be long before it will be hard to differentiate our capital from Beijing.”
Derek Hunter, the Executive Director of the Media Freedom Project for the Americans for Tax Reform, told Poker News Daily why his organization is involved: “It’s a pretty dangerous precedent, to seize website that the government doesn’t like. The biggest fear here is where does it stop? You can run risk of having sites like blogs being seized. To me, it’s a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment. We shall see what the Judge says tomorrow.”
During a recent trip to Murray, Kentucky, Beshear was quoted in the Murray Ledger newspaper as stating, “We allow certain types of gambling in the state and the way we allow it is that we strictly control it – strictly regulate it – and we collect tax revenue off of it. We want to make sure that the games are fair.” The Governor also stated that he would fight the ruling in appeal if the Judge ruled against his seizure order.
We’ll have a full report on Wednesday’s decision as soon as it’s rendered right here on Poker News Daily.