United States v. Gordon, 71-2982
| Decision Date | 30 June 1972 |
| Docket Number | 71-2999.,No. 71-2982,71-2982 |
| Citation | 464 F.2d 357 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Harry GORDON et al., Defendants-Appellees. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Frank ROSENTHAL et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Sidney M. Glazer, Atty. (argued), Beatrice Rosenberg, Kenneth L. Greenman, Jr., Attys., Washington, D. C., Joseph L. Ward, U. S. Atty., Las Vegas, Nev., for plaintiff-appellant.
Bruce I. Hockman (argued), Hockman, Salkin & De Roy, Los Angeles, Cal., Jerry J. Kaufman (argued), of Jones, Jones, Close, Bilbray, Kaufman & Olsen, Louis Weiner, Jr., of Weiner, Goldwater, Galatz & Raggio, Ltd.; Grant Sawyer, of Lionel, Sawyer, Collins & Wartman, Las Vegas, Nev., Charles A. McNelis, of Welch & Morgan, Washington, D. C., Oscar B. Goodman, Las Vegas, Nev., for defendants-appellees.
Before CHAMBERS and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges, and PREGERSON, District Judge*.
The district court dismissed the indictment in these two cases on the ground that licensed Nevada bookmakers and their employees do not engage in an "illegal gambling business," within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1955, by violating non-penal regulations of the Nevada Gaming Commission. We agree and affirm the district court's decision.
18 U.S.C. § 1955 reads in pertinent part as follows:
These two cases hinge on the construction of the phrase, "the law of a State." Relying on United States v. Howard, 352 U.S. 212, 77 S.Ct. 303, 1 L.Ed.2d 261 (1957), the government's basic position is that a business may be a violation of "the law of a State," within the meaning of § 1955, without being a violation of the State's criminal laws. The government's reliance on United States v. Howard, supra, is misplaced. In Howard a violation of the applicable regulation of the Florida Game Commission was punishable as a crime. Here a violation of the applicable Nevada Gaming Commission regulation can lead only to civil sanctions.
As used in § 1955, the pivotal words, "the law of a State," suffer from...
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