In the US, there are 20 states, including Pennsylvania, which allow “commercial gaming” (excepting lotteries, pari-mutuel wagering and tribal casinos). Out of those 20, only 5 of them legally ban all political contributions (any monetary or in-kind political contribution) made by individuals. Those bans are on the same basis as Pennsylvania’s 2004 Gaming Act, which banned political contributions in order “to prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption, that may arise when politics and gambling are intermingled”.
The state of Pennsylvania had a ban on political contributions until DePaul came along in May of this year and proved the ban to be unconstitutional. Now the Senate has just passed a bill which brings in a cash contributions ban on political contributions from gambling industry companies, big wigs or investors.
This recent bill, which has just been passed from the Senate to the state House of Representatives (being almost unanimously voted through), states that no cash contributions to political causes from gaming industry sources should be allowed. It is a follow up to the legal challenge made in the High Court by Peter DePaul back in May of this year. In the Peter DePaul v’s Pennsylvania case, DePaul challenged a consent decree demanding $100,000 in fines and other restrictions for violations of the political contributions ban, the 2004 Gaming Act of Pennsylvania. He challenged this consent decree based on the fact that the ban was unconstitutional and he was simply enacting and displaying an expressive conduct, protected by Article 1, section 7 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania (which is actually broader than those rights presented under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution) which grants fundamental freedoms of political expression and association. DePaul won the case which thus confirmed that political contributions constituted a protected, legal expression in Pennsylvania.
Subsequent to the overturning of the ban on political contributions part of the Gaming Act of 2004 in the DePaul v’s Pennsylvania case, a new bill is needed to prevent cash contributions, should the state wish to ban them, which is exactly what is currently happening.
There seems little available on the internet apertaining to this issue, but you can read an interesting, (if not rather weighty) article here on the subject of bans on political financial contributions by individuals and companies within the state of Pennsylvania.
Source: online pokies club
This entry was written by Nena on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 10:47 pm and is filed under News.
