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| Washington State Anti-Gambling Law Out Of Control |
| 2006-07-10 |
| As most of us toasted liberty and pursued happiness last week, Jim Harvill opened his mailbox and learned these rights are not as unalienable as he thought. On July 3, Harvill, an affable operations manager for Sprint PCS near Spokane, got the following letter from the publisher of two magazines he has subscribed to for years. "It is with deep regret that we must inform you ... " it read, "we must cancel all subscriptions to Washington State." The magazines are "Casino Player" — a monthly review of U.S. casinos and hotels — and "Strictly Slots" — a guide to one-armed bandits, video poker and other mechanized means of gambling. Hardly classic literature. But Harvill liked them. And now he can no longer read them, thanks to a twisted reading of the state's new law against Internet gambling. The state says placing bets online is against the law. Fine. But the state goes on to say that even writing about Internet gambling in a way that's promotional is "aiding and abetting" an illegal industry. So now two print magazines consider themselves banned in this state. It's not clear whether the publisher pulled them on his own or was asked to by the state. The letter vaguely cites "new state laws regarding the legality of online gaming." Mind you, no actual betting occurs via these magazines. People like Harvill buy them just to read about gambling. "It's completely surreal," Harvill says. "My government is saying there is something I'm not allowed to read. I've lived in this country for 60 years and I can't remember anything like this happening to me before." This is just the tip of the iceberg. The anti-gambling statute was so poorly written that it boggles the mind. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #3 Where are the New York and LA Times? This is a clear case of government censorship. Oh, wait. This would not help bring down Bush, so it must be OK. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2006-07-10 11:38 |
| #2 It's the nanny-state-ness of it all. Washington State prolly thinks The Weekly Standard is also detrimental to its citizens. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-07-10 10:45 |
| #1 not high on my list of things to find really troublesome in this world. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-10 10:05 |