The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act, is a United States federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the United States. It begins with the text: Several legal opinions and rulings have discussed whether forms of gambling other than sports betting fall within the Act's scope.

Background

After being selected to become US Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy suggested to the 87th United States Congress to pass legislation which would make interstate gambling illegal. Kennedy's goal of the legislation was to help the

United States Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...

stop organized crime from trafficking.Schwartz (2010), p. 553 One of the eight bills given to Congress was Senate Bill 1656—The Wire Act.

Signing

The Interstate Anti-Crime Acts were signed by the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy on September 13, 1961.

Applicability to gambling other than sports betting

In September 2011, the US Department of Justice released to the public a formal legal opinion on the scope of the Act concluding, "interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a 'sporting event or contest' fall outside the reach of the Wire Act." A new Department of Justice opinion dated November 2, 2018 reversed the 2011 opinion, declaring that the Wire Act's prohibitions are "not uniformly limited to gambling on sporting events or contests." The

U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

has ruled that the Wire Act prohibition on the transmission of wagers applies only to sports betting and not other types of online gambling. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

has not ruled on the meaning of the Federal Wire Act as it pertains to online gambling. In an opinion issued November 2018 and published January 2019, the Department of Justice stated that the Federal Wire Act applies to all gambling and not just sports betting. On January 15, 2019, Deputy Attorney General

Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay Rosenstein (; born January 13, 1965) is an American attorney who served as the 37th United States deputy attorney general from April 2017 until May 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served as a United States attorney for the District ...

announced that the Department of Justice would delay enforcement of the 2018 OLC opinion for 90 days to "give businesses that relied on the 2011 OLC opinion time to bring their operations into compliance with federal law." On February 15, 2019, the New Hampshire Lottery Commission filed a complaint in the US District Court for New Hampshire, naming the Department of Justice and Attorney General William Barr as defendants. The suit asks the Court to vacate and set aside the OLC's new opinion, which the Commission claims will reduce its annual profits by millions of dollars. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said the state wasn't interested in negotiating an out-of-court settlement, "we're looking to win." On June 3, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge

Paul Barbadoro Paul James Barbadoro (born June 4, 1955) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. In July 2016, he was appointed by Chief Justice Roberts as the chair of the Executive Committe ...

issued a summary judgment that the Wire Act "is limited to sports gambling" and set aside the 2018 OLC opinion. A Department of Justice spokesperson said the government was reviewing the decision. On August 16, 2019, the Department of Justice filed notice of its intention to appeal Barbadoro's ruling to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals. On January 20, 2021, Circuit Court Judge William Joseph Kayatta Jr. affirmed the district court's decision. In November 2021,

International Game Technology International Game Technology PLC (IGT), formerly Gtech S.p.A. and Lottomatica S.p.A., is a multinational gambling company that produces slot machines and other gambling technology. The company is headquartered in London, with major offices in ...

filed a lawsuit against the DOJ ( Department of Justice) over the Federal Wire Act. IGT’s attorneys presented their case in the District Court of Rhode Island, claiming that the opinion issued by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2018 during the

Donald Trump Administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory o ...

had forced the biggest iGaming company in the United States to spend resources on potential lawsuits filed by the government. Their goal was to make the court declare the 2018 opinion unlawful. On February 24, 2022, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss IGT’s lawsuit. The DOJ representatives said that “the company (IGT) didn’t provide sufficient evidence to confirm its claim that there’s a threat of prosecution.” The DOJ’s office has once again stated the Federal Wire Act does not apply to

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

and casino services. IGT asked for additional time to respond to these arguments.

Notes

References

* {{Cite journal , last=Schwartz , first=David , date=September 2010 , title=Not Undertaking the Almost-Impossible Task: The 1961 Wire Act's Development, Initial Applications, and Ultimate Purpose , journal=Gaming Law Review and Economics , volume=14 , issue=7 , pages=533–540 , doi=10.1089/glre.2010.14708, url=https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=lib_articles

External links