Jackpot! The Gambler’s Chance to Win Big Through RICO: The Definitive Argument of Liability Against the Gambling Industry

Compulsive gamblers and their family members have had a long, unsuccessful history of lawsuits against the gambling industry in the United States. With the emergence of online gambling and sports betting, the gambling industry is becoming less and less regulated, preying on compulsive gamblers and nurturing their addiction for profit. Although gambling is diagnosed as a legitimate addiction disorder in medicine, the law has been slow and even reluctant to recognize and grant legal protection to addicted gambler plaintiffs. However, the recent wave of litigation brought against a similar addiction-for-profit industry, the opioid industry, seems to suggest there is an alternative solution for compulsive gambler plaintiffs to seek relief for the gambling industry’s fraudulent and deceptive practices. This Comment argues that compulsive gamblers should allege that the gambling industry used the United States mail system to defraud them in violation of the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). First, this Comment highlights the deceptive practices of the gambling industry and explains why it has continued to profit without any legal accountability thus far. Through the mutually beneficial relationship between the state governments and the casinos, state governments can receive a cut of revenue generated each year and even hold proprietary interests in the casino machines’ software. In return, casinos are able to run their businesses with minimal regulations and legal immunity from self-exclusion programs. Next, this Comment breaks new ground by arguing that compulsive gamblers can leverage recent RICO litigation against opioid pharmaceutical companies in their own RICO claims. Compulsive gamblers bringing civil RICO claims against gambling companies can make comparisons between the opioid industry’s fraudulent industry-wide tactics and the gambling industry’s practices. Finally, this Comment highlights the new boom of sports betting after its legalization in 2018. Following the establishment of a new gambling industry, the timing is perfect for compulsive gambler plaintiffs to pursue legal accountability in the courts. Furthermore, the hidden tool of internal discovery documents released to the public will aid compulsive gamblers in fighting for legal recourse and government regulatory action to stop the manipulations of the gambling industry

Third Circuit Confusion: NCAA v. Christie and an Opportunity to Defend Federalism

NCAA v. Christie will determine whether a federal statute that prevents a state legislature from repealing a previously enacted state law violates the anti-commandeering doctrine. In 2014, New Jersey passed a state law repealing state prohibitions against sports wagering in Atlantic City. Five sports leagues sued New Jersey in federal court. The leagues asserted that the new state law violated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal law. New Jersey claimed PASPA violated the anti-commandeering doctrine and was accordingly unconstitutional. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that PASPA does not violate the anti-commandeering doctrine because it does not command states to take affirmative actions, and it does not present a coercive binary choice. New Jersey disagrees. This commentary argues that PASPA, as interpreted by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, does in fact violate the anti-commandeering doctrine established by the Supreme Court and that there is no meaningful difference between forcing a state to pass a law and forcing them to retain one. In both instances, the state’s legislative branch is being commandeered by Congress to advance Congressional policies and purposes. The Supreme Court has found such commandeering unconstitutional in the past and should do so yet again in this instance

Critical Perspectives Sustainability of the on South African Civil Society Sector

This report presents the findings of a research and advocacy process that included consultative workshops with CSOs in all nine of South Africa's provinces, interviews with CSOs, politicians, government departments, the NLB, NDA and local funders. The report highlights the successes and ongoing problems associated with the NLB and the NDA. It locates them within a broader context of government unevenness, inefficiency and corruption

Identity Trust Framework for iGaming

The online gambling community, or the iGaming industry in the United States has individual solutions and a mix of classic processes to manage universal customer identity but it lacks a standard identity management framework in which to enroll new iGaming users, monitor those users and ensure secure transactions, which leaves it open to identity theft and financial fraud. The iGaming industry offers online poker, sports betting and casino table games. iGaming providers (provider/providers) include companies such as PartyPoker.com, Pokerstars.com, Bovada.com, BetOnline.com among others. An iGaming player (player/players) is anyone who plays to gamble on games through the Internet. This report focuses on the requirements and specification for an Identity Trust Framework to enhance security and privacy in the United States iGaming industry and players.Informatio

U.S. Travel and Tourism: Industry Trends and Policy Issues for Congress

[Excerpt] The travel and tourism industry is an amalgam of business activities including transportation, lodging, entertainment, meals, and retail trade. Collectively, this mature sector of the U.S. economy accounts for 2.8% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and directly employs 5.7 million Americans. While they have increased in recent years, employment and real output in travel and tourism have not fully recovered from the 2007-2009 recession. It is in this context that Congress will consider whether to reauthorize or extend the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (TPA; P.L. 111-145), which established a national advertising and marketing effort to encourage international visitors to spend time in the United States. The law is scheduled to expire at the end of FY2015. A number of other bills intended to make travel to the United States less complicated for foreign visitors also await action in Congress. action in Congress

Online gambling and crime: a sure bet?

Despite a growing body of research that is exploring the deleterious social effects of online gambling, there has, to date, been very little empirical research into internet gambling and crime. This paper seeks to initiate discussion and exploration of the dimensions of crime in and around internet gambling sites through an analysis of the current literature on gambling online. The paper forms part of a wider study that seeks to examine online gambling related crime and identify appropriate legal, technological and educational frameworks through which to limit victimisation

Smoke and Mirrors: The National Lottery and the Non-Profit Sector

In a context of massive reductions in government consumption spending, the National Lottery is intended to provide a sustainable source of funding for non-profit organisations providing much needed sporting, arts, cultural, social and environmental services to the South African public. This funding, it is hoped, will help secure a better life for all citizens

Mandatory public benefit reporting as a basis for charity accountability: findings from England & Wales

Charitable status is inherently linked in many jurisdictions with the requirement that an entity must be established for public benefit. But, until recently the public benefit principle had relatively little impact on the operations of most established charities. However, in England and Wales, reforms linked to the Charities Act 2006 led to a new requirement for public benefit reporting in the trustees’ annual report (TAR) of every registered charity. This new narrative reporting requirement had the potential to affect the understanding of accountability by charities. The paper investigates the impact of that requirement through a study of over 1400 sets of charity reports and account

Third sector accounting and accountability in Australia: anything but a level playing field

This research report seeks to understand why some Australian not-for-profit organisations make voluntary financial disclosures beyond their basic statutory obligations. Introduction This paper surveys previous work on voluntary information disclosures in accounting reports of Australian Not-for-Profit organisations (NFPs). This is new research and is a part of a project to evolve a comprehensive explanation of why Australian NFPs disclose what they do disclose; and to capture and explain patterns of variations between NFPs between what they regard to disclose and the type of information they disclose. To accomplish this, first some background information about the NFP sector are considered. Then, the Australian NFP sector is reviewed. Third, the information needs of some key stakeholders are briefly discussed. Next, the research methodology where a literature survey which looks at not just disclosures to NFPs but to the commercial sector that are plausibly &nbsp

The calculative reproduction of social structures : The field of gem mining in Sri Lanka

Peer reviewedPostprin