Thanks for the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing address.
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
2150 Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Violations
The Martin Act has been interpreted to prohibit all deceitful practices, as well as false promises, related to the offer, sale, or purchase of securities and commodities within or from New York.[2] Notably, in order to secure a conviction, the state is not required to prove scienter (except in connection with felonies) or an actual purchase or sale or damages resulting from the fraud.[2]
Before: Calabresi and Carney, Circuit Judges, Amon, District Judge. * George F. Carpinello (John F. Dew, on the brief), Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, Albany, NY, for Plaintiff–Appellant Wandering Dago, Inc. Zainab A. Chaudhry, Assistant Solicitor General (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Andrea Oser, Deputy Solicitor General, on the brief), for Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of the State of New York, Albany, NY, for Defendants–Appellees RoAnn M. Destito, Joseph J. Rabito, William F. Bruso, Jr., and Aaron Walters.
WANDERING DAGO INC v. John Does, 1–5, New York State Office of General Services, New York Racing Association, Inc., Christopher K. Kay, Stephen Travers, State of New York, Defendants.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
WANDERING DAGO, INC., Plaintiff–Appellant, v. RoAnn M. DESTITO, Joseph J. Rabito, William F. Bruso, Jr., Aaron Walters, Defendants–Appellees, John Does, 1–5, New York State Office of General Services, New York Racing Association, Inc., Christopher K. Kay, Stephen Travers, State of New York, Defendants.
Docket No. 16-622
Decided: January 03, 2018
Plaintiff-appellant Wandering Dago, Inc., (“WD”) operates a food truck and brands itself and the food it sells with language generally viewed as ethnic slurs. Defendants-appellees (“defendants”)1 are officials within the New York State Office of General Services (“OGS”) who played a part in twice denying WD's applications to participate as a food vendor in the Summer Outdoor Lunch Program (“Lunch Program”), an activity that is organized by OGS and takes place in Albany's Empire State Plaza annually in the summer months. WD contends that defendants violated its rights to free speech and equal protection under the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution by denying WD's application because of its branding practices.
We conclude that the District Court erred in granting summary judgment in defendants' favor, and should instead have awarded judgment to WD. It is undisputed that defendants denied WD's applications solely because of its ethnic-slur branding. The Supreme Court's recent decision in Matal v. Tam, ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 1744, 198 L.Ed.2d 366 (2017), clarifies that this action amounts to viewpoint discrimination and, if not government speech or otherwise protected, is prohibited by the First Amendment. That the action violates the First Amendment leads directly to the conclusion that defendants also violated WD's equal protection rights and its rights under the New York State Constitution. We find unpersuasive defendants' argument that their actions were unobjectionable because they were either part of OGS's government speech or permissible regulation of a government contractor's speech.
For these reasons, the District Court's judgment is REVERSED and the cause is REMANDED for the entry of a revised judgment consistent with this opinion.
BACKGROUND 2
No comments:
Post a Comment