McKee v. Foster

347 P.2d 585 (1959)

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McKee v. Foster

Oregon Supreme Court
347 P.2d 585 (1959)

  • Written by Brett Stavin, JD

Facts

Marshall McKee (plaintiff) brought an action in Oregon state court against the state attorney general, Robert Thornton, and the county district attorney, Walter Foster (collectively, the state) (defendants), for a declaratory judgment that his pinball machines did not constitute illegal gambling devices under Oregon law. The pinball machines offered no monetary prizes or tangible items of value but did occasionally award a free play. The machines awarded a free play to players that were able to light up a series of squares on the backboard of the machine by placing the pinball in various holes. Upon its squares being lit, the machine notified the player that he or she had won a free play. However, the machine did not dispense any token, check, coin, or other tangible, physical item. Instead, to play the free play, the player had to press a button on the machine to continue playing. The state argued that the fact that the machine could award a free play meant that it vended or dispensed a thing of value depending on chance. The state pointed to the fact that after a player deposited a nickel in the machine, he or she would receive a single play, but if the player were lucky, he or she might receive a sequence of two or more plays.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Rossman, J.)

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