No state in the nation has a more severe penalty for playing online poker than Washington, which, in early 2006, passed a law that made playing online poker a class C felony there. Washington is one of seven states where state legislators have outlawed online poker.
Washington State Attorney Lee Rousso has taken it upon himself to overturn the ill-conceived law, but he has recently run into some typical stall tactics by the state to keep his lawsuit from going to trial.
Earlier this year, Rousso filed a lawsuit trying to get to the law wiped off of the books because he believes it's unconstitutional. The state responded by filing several requests for information about Rousso that he says he doesn't think any lawyer would ever answer, information that could possibly be used to incriminate Rousso.
"I think the state's strategy is basically to make sure the case never gets tried under merits, so they will do everything possible just to make sure that I will go away. And up to this point, they've been successful," Rousso said.
Rousso appealed those requests, and so far, the courts have sided with state attorneys. An appeals court is set to rule on that portion of the case sometime in January. If the appeals court again rules against Rousso, he will re-file his case using a substitute plaintiff that he already has lined-up, and the process will start all over.
"One way or another, we should be able to get this in a courthouse," he said.
If that case stalls, Rousso, with help from the Poker Players Alliance, will try to tackle this law by applying pressure politically.
But why is Rousso trying to get this law overturned?
"I like to play poker. I think Internet poker is one of the greatest inventions of all time," he says. "Internet poker rocks, and people who are responsible adults should be able to play in the privacy of their homes without the government getting its nose in the way."
The law that made online poker a felony has never been used to charge anyone in Washington, but it has been used to put pressure on owners of sites that both review and provide links for online poker sites to Internet users to shut down their sites.
The law was debated for about a minute before being passed by state senators, and although Rousso can't prove it, he believes that donations from brick-and-mortar casinos to key members of the state's legislature helped get the law passed. Washington is home to more than 25 Indian casinos. The law was proposed by State Legislator Margarita Prentice.
