Fighting Expanded Gambling

Lewisburg attorney Barry Bruce is filing a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court next week to try and stop the expansion of gambling in the state of West Virginia. He represents a group that is fundamentally opposed to adding table games to the line up of slot machines that are already offered at the state’s racetracks.

They believe that Governor Manchin and the state Legislature voted out of turn when they decided to allow residents in each of the four counties that currently have the slot machines and tracks, to vote on whether or not they want to add table games to the machines. If they decide to allow it, they will then be able to play poker, craps, etc. at the racetracks.

However, Bruce is arguing that the 1984 Lottery Amendment does not allow for table games, and that the legislature should not have approved the bill. The amendment says that the lottery must be owned, operated, etc. by the State of West Virginia, and that will not be the case with the table games. They say that the table games will be owned and operated by the casinos that they are sitting in.

Lawmakers said that the “intellectual property” of the games is owned by the state, but Bruce says that it is absurd for lawmakers to think that they own the rights to poker. He also says that under the law, the other counties that will be affected by the games should have the right to vote as well. He says that under “equal protection” all of the residents of the counties affected should be allowed to vote. He says that the way the borders are set for the voting is unfair and therefore illegal.



Back to May Archive or Slot Machines