Judge Paul Barbadoro refused the DOJ’s request to dismiss the New Hampshire Lottery’s case due to lack of standing. On April 8th, the DOJ released a memo stating that lotteries were not affected by the Wire Act opinion. The DOJ stated that the lottery lacked standing because there were no “credible threats of prosecution.”
Assistant U.S. Attorny Stephen A. Myers has urged the judge to dismiss the case.
“We are not threatening to prosecute them now. We are washing our hands of this for the (length of) the review,” Myers said. He urged Barbadoro to avoid deciding an issue that doesn’t need to be decided.
The judge believes that the case will make its way to the Supreme Court. “I have a strong feeling that however I resolve the case, or however the First Circuit resolves the case, it is likely going to be resolved by the US Supreme Court either way.”