Editorial: Broadcasters get OK on casino ads

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1998 | 11:22 a.m.

Without comment, the court rejected Monday the Clinton administration's appeal in the case, letting stand a lower court decision that overturned a federal ban on casino ads.

The dispute between the federal government and the commercial casinos was over a 1934 criminal statute that banned broadcasters from running commercial casino ads.

Congress, over time, made exemptions to the ban. Some of the notable exemptions included ads for some competitors to commercial casinos -- state lotteries and Indian casinos.

By carving out so many exemptions, broadcasters and advertisers asserted that the federal government's ban on casinos violated the Constitution's guarantee of free speech.

Congress certainly defied logic when it attempted to make a distinction between an Indian casino vs. a commercial casino.

What's the point of having a law if one of the competitors has their hands tied but the others are unfettered?

The exemptions, in effect, served to economically benefit some gaming operators at the expense of others.

It would be as if the federal government decided it was OK to let grocery stores advertise on television but prohibit convenience stores that sell food from doing the same.

Gaming is a legitimate commercial enterprise, as is either a state lottery or an Indian casino.

When Congress passes a law that infringes on free speech and discriminates against a perfectly legal commercial enterprise, the courts have no choice other than to find that the law is unconstitutional.