A UNC School of Government Blog
On Friday, a panel of the court of appeals decided an interesting electronic sweepstakes case. The case is Sandhill Amusements, Inc. v. Sheriff of Onslow Co. It generally upheld a preliminary injunction against the Onslow County Sheriff and the District Attorney, barring them from enforcing the electronic sweepstakes statute against certain businesses. [Update: although the DA is … Read more
I’ve had a number of people ask me what’s going on around the state with internet sweepstakes. Below, I set out what I know, but there’s so much going on in this area that I’m sure I’m missing something. Please add to the knowledge base by posting a comment if you know more. New games. … Read more
The internet sweepstakes soap opera took a dramatic turn this week. An employee of a Davidson County sweepstakes business was charged with violating the recently-upheld sweepstakes law, G.S. 14-306.4. The charges were promptly dismissed by the District Attorney, but a sweepstakes vendor called International Internet Technologies nonetheless sued, seeking an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the … Read more
The writing may be on the wall for internet sweepstakes businesses. On Friday, the state supreme court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of G.S. 14-306.4, the statute enacted to target such operations. The principal decision is Hest Technologies, Inc. v. State, __ N.C. __ (2012), written by Justice Hudson. Background. The legislature has been concerned for … Read more
In a post here, Jeff updated you on the dueling superior court decisions on whether G.S.14-306.4—the internet sweepstakes ban—is constitutional or not. The Court of Appeals recently resolved the conflict, holding, over a dissent, that the statute is an unconstitutionally overbroad regulation of free speech. So at least for now, internet sweepstakes operations are good … Read more
I’ve blogged before about the General Assembly’s latest effort to eradicate internet sweepstakes. Because G.S. 14-306.4 went into effect yesterday, I’ve had lots of questions about the law. (I even made a brief television appearance — apparently, my 15 minutes seconds of fame.) My colleague Chris McLaughlin posted about the controversy in this area yesterday … Read more
According to the News and Observer, Governor Perdue has signed House Bill 80, entitled “An Act to Ban the Use of Electronic Machines and Devices for Sweepstakes Purposes.” It becomes effective December 1. I thought I’d take a few minutes to provide some background about the bill, summarize it, and identify some issues that I … Read more
There’s been lots of interesting news lately, so I’ll dive right in. 1. The state supreme court issued several opinions yesterday. By far the most significant criminal case is State v. Ward. I may do a whole post about Ward, but the basic holding is that visual identification of controlled substances is unreliable and that … Read more