IMEGA Presents Online Casino Case to Kentucky High Court
The hearing this week before the Kentucky Supreme Court over the state's attempt to seize online casino domain names went well, according to Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas. Attorney John Fleischaker spoke for iMEGA and the assorted Internet gambling operators told the justices that Kentucky's case failed to follow due process, was conducted outside of jurisdiction, and misapplied law to fit a desired result."I think the presentation of the prosecution was extremely weak and there were a lot of holes in it in that the Supreme Court justices pointed out," Pappas told Poker News Daily. "The attorneys for the side of the online sites did a very good job of presenting compelling, reasonable reasons for dismissing this case.”
“They made up a process that is totally lacking in due process,” Fleischaker told the court.
The number and difficulty of questions presented to attorneys for Kentucky and Governor Steve Beshear seems to indicate the court may be leaning in the favor of the online casinos. A similar barrage of questioning to iMEGA lawyers in the recent UIGEA case turned out indicative of the court's position in favor of retaining the law.
Further, comments from the bench not only show the justices mindful of Fleischaker's arguments, but prepared to act on a broader scale than the appellate court, which did not review jurisdictional nor due process arguments after finding that domain names do not fit the definition of "gambling devices."
“I’m really, really concerned about the nature of this proceeding,” Justice Will T. Scott said while question Beshear's representatives.
