Court Unleashes Casino Debate

Controversy has arisen over the Supreme Court decision Monday, striking down the federal government's effort to protect compulsive gamblers from the lure of some casinos.

The high court also agreed to decide whether computers and other instructional materials paid for with taxpayer money can be used by religious schools.

Ruling that a ban on television and radio advertising violates free-speech rights, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the court that the ban "may not be applied to advertisements of private casino gambling that are broadcast by radio or television stations located in Louisiana, where such gambling is legal."

The ad ban had been in effect in only some parts of the nation, because some federal appeals courts ruled it un8constitutional while others upheld it. Monday's decision was s8parked by an appeal on behalf of New Orleans-area broadcasters.
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I8t came at the same ime as a report by a federal commission 8suggesting a moratorium on new casinos in America, as a breather to allow more reseach on whether betting is a harmless pasttime or a deadly social disease.

When the case was argued in April, several justices wondered aloud about the ban's legitimacy and effectiveness when some 240 casinos owned by Indian tribes in 31 states, 38 state-run lotteries and other gambling operations are free to advertise at will.

The Supreme Court ruled that was not only inconsistent, but it was also unconstitutional, a violation of free speech rights.

Stevens said the ban "is so pierced by exemptions and inconsistencies that the government cannot hope to exonerate it."

The Clinton administration and anti-gaming groups argued that compulsive gamblers need protection from the "get-rich-quick" lure of casinos, CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen reports.

But Clinton administration lawyer Barbara Underwood had emphasized the "devastating social costs" caused by an estimated 3 million compulsive gamblers, and said Congress was entitled to address part of the problem by reining in commercial speech.

A long-standing federal law bans broadcast advertising for "any lottery, gift enterprise or similar scheme offering prizes dependent in whole or in part upon lot or chance." But over the past 20 years, Congress has amended the law to allow ads for casinos on Indian reservations, state-run lotteries or any gambling sponsored by nonprofit promoters for charitable purposes.

Since 1988, the law primarily has targeted privately owned casinos.

Some say that this court ruling will open the flood gates to allowing such other forms of banned advertising as cigarette and liquor advertising. "I think that this is going to open the door," advertising luminary Jerry Della Femina said. "I mean freedom of speech is freedom of speech."

The court also said Monday that it would take on the issue of whether computers and other instructional materials paid for wittaxpayer money can be used by religious schools. The final decision may determine the scope of federal efforts to connect every American classroom to the Internet.

Setting the stage for its first church-state ruling of the new millennium, the nation's highest court said it will review a 14-year-old Louisiana dispute over public aid to parochial schools.

Its eventual decision, expected sometime in 2000, also could affect the constitutional debate over school vouchers, financial help from the government for families whose children attend religious and other private schools.

A New Orleans-based federal appeals court struck down a federal program last year by ruling that providing educational materials other than textbooks for religiously affiliated elementary and secondary schools violates the constitutionally required separation of government and religion.

The same program, which makes federal money available through local school districts, has been upheld by a San Francisco-based federal appeals court.