Louisiana Supreme Court again takes up raising legal age

Alan Sayre

Monday, Nov. 27, 2000 | 4:06 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS - A rural judge has said that the Legislature erred in raising the age for drinking and some gambling, and by imposing a lower blood-alcohol limit for younger adults who drink and drive.

The Louisiana Supreme Court, which previously reversed the rulings in the drinking age and DWI cases, on Tuesday will take up the question of whether 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds should be able to play video poker and the lottery.

State District Judge Preston Aucoin ruled in January that raising the lottery-video poker age from 18 to 21, which the Legislature ordered in 1998, violates the state Constitution's ban on age discrimination.

The challenge was brought by a Ville Platte man, who has since turned 21, and two video poker operators.

Aucoin's court was considered likely to get the challenge, since the judge previously threw out the 21-year-old drinking age and the reduced blood-alcohol limit for 18-, 19- and 20-year-old drivers. Aucoin's rulings in those cases were reversed by the Supreme Court.

At the heart of all three rulings has been the judge's contention that a provision in the state constitution prevents age discrimination against people over 18.

"They could vote, they could run for and get elected to public offices, they could own property, they could own businesses ... and be conscripted in the military service, sent to foreign shores, fight, bleed and die for their country," Aucoin wrote in his ruling striking down the higher gambling age.

The judge also pointed out that adults under 21 can still place bets at horse-racing tracks or own outlets that sell lottery tickets and have video poker machines. The legal age for playing in Louisiana casinos has been 21 since the industry was legalized in the state.

Aucoin's order currently affects only Evangeline Parish and the state attorney general is taking an appeal to the high court. The state contends the higher age for lottery and video poker is legally justified because young adults are more likely to develop gambling addictions than their older counterparts.

The state used a similar argument in winning the cases involving the drinking age and the lower DWI standard for younger adults - that those in the 18-, 19- and 20-year-old age bracket are more likely to drink and drive and the state has a responsibility to reduce alcohol-related traffic accidents. The maximum blood-level for that bracket is now one-fifth of that allowed drivers 21 or older.

In his gambling ruling, Aucoin said the state, by raising the legal age for certain activities, "raises an extremely serious philosophical question concerning the true substance or citizenship and status of our citizens."