Attorney Suing Washington

Lawyer and poker player Lee Rousso has filed suit against the Washington State Government stating that the state’s ban on Internet gambling is illegal. Rousso says that the online wagering ban that the state passed infringes on the U.S. Constitutions protections of interstate trade and had filed suit in King County Superior Court.

The ban was passed by lawmakers and went into effect last June. Basically it extended an earlier ban that made gambling via telephones or telegraphs illegal, and made the crime a much harsher one by changing it from a gross misdemeanor to a felony. No one has been prosecuted yet under the ban, but Rousso says that the law gives the gambling industry in the state a monopoly, which is illegal.

He said that it protects the in state card rooms and casinos, while not allowing for out of state trade. He says that if he is unsuccessful in this attempt, he will push to make internet poker legal again. With internet gambling illegal under Federal Law as well, he hopes to win this for not only their state but for the whole country as this could set precedent.

The World Trade Organization recently told the US that because of the ban that has been passed by the US under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that they could keep the sports betting restrictions in place but they have to apply it to their own shores as well, otherwise they are violating the terms of their agreement and could be facing sanctions.

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