Florida Sociologist Argues that Lawmakers Restrict the Rights of Online Gamblers

by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor April 17, 2009 According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the state Legislature has initiated talks about expanding gambling in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. While online casino gambling advocates have consistently argued that the industry could bring U.S. states billions in tax revenue each year, the state has argued for more land-based casino gambling and less online casino gambling. A speaker at a Florida anti-gambling rally this week said that he would prefer a law against online gambling rather than a law that would allow it while the state argues for more physical casinos to be built. Sociologist Harold Peterson made a statement against the anti-gambling rally, claiming that many U.S. citizens have the attitude that laws in the country either permit or forbid activities, such as gambling online. Peterson notes that the rally showed assumptions about freedom and legislation that U.S. residents did not always have. “The popularly held belief in the U.S. that laws are made to both allow and deny privileges is a very recent state of mind. The populace has accepted it because it is numb with an overwhelming flow of new law by legislators who feel that if they aren’t churning out volumes of regulations, they aren’t doing their jobs,” said Peterson. “But freedom and liberty mean unbound by the restraint of law, able to choose whatever path one desires. The idealized version of the US as ‘the land of the free’ can only exist when lawmakers put harsh limits upon themselves, only passing such measures as those that are virtually universally demanded.” Peterson continued to explain that the United States does not, in fact, prohibit any form of online casino gambling outside of the state of Washington, but rather that the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) applies to the financial transactions of such wagers. Still, he notes that citizens are not aware of the legal statues of online casino gambling. Legislators do not have to pass a law that allows internet gambling because these activities are not in violation of any U.S. law. “Casino smoking is another example of mistaken assumptions. Some feel the law is changing in many states, from laws permitting smoking to laws denying that right. But the actual change is from no law, which means everyone is free and at liberty to enjoy his own decision, to a law constricting behavior.” While the state of Florida has openly opposed an American’s right to gamble online, it also has begun to push for more land-based casino gambling – harboring the same consequences that the U.S. has attempted to protect its citizens from in banning online gambling transactions. The State Senate has proposed that the Seminole Tribe’s seven casinos in the state be permitted to add craps and roulette to their gaming roster, putting them on par with Las Vegas casinos and raising $400 million annually for Florida. Peterson continued to say that the Constitution is only a few pages long, and that the laws passed that restrict citizens’ rights consist of an eight-hundred page long list. “Every word entered into federal and state statutes represents a tiny piece of lost freedom, of liberty surrendered. The people need to be aware of this, and demand that each act be passed only because it is essential, that the cost paid in infringement on freedom be worth whatever gains the bill grants,” Peterson concluded.

Trackback from your site.

Comments (2)

  • Avatar

    John Duffey

    |

    Although I am not familiar with Harold Peterson, and even though I’ve never gambled online, as a fellow U.S. American citizen, I truly believe that this man couldn’t be any more ‘spot on’ with the role of government, liberty, and society’s current perception of freedom. Everyone residing within and abroad should understand that the U.S. government wasn’t built to hinder or infringe upon freedom, which it indeed does every time a new law is passed. It was designed, rather, to limit the power of government and to prevent it from institutionalizing unnecessary infractions against free will. This man, and other like-minded individuals, are the people that should be representing our country.

    Reply

  • Avatar

    swann2001

    |

    By restricting online gambling under past President it has opened the way for overseas sites owned mostly by China to enter the US market. They prosper while gaming sites that are regularly checked and accredited such as most Microgaming sites are banned from entering US market. Many US citizens are bilked by these Chinese sites that do not have the oversight that would come if Congress approved certain land based sites to offer online gambling as well. They could be properly accredited to offer randomness of their software, restricted or lose the right to offer online gambling if they failed to pay winnings in a set period of time, etc. Complaints could be forwarded to Online Gambling Commission to resolve any complaints or issues that arise. None of this is available now but still online gambling is rampant on the Internet with foreign nations benefiting. With Lottery and land based gambling it is hypocritical to say we can’t have online gambling that’s not right.

    Reply

Leave a comment