Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement v. Legion Post 304 Home Association

164 A.3d 612 (2017)

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Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement v. Legion Post 304 Home Association

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
164 A.3d 612 (2017)

Facts

Legion Post 304 Home Association (Legion) (defendant) offered patrons a game called Bonanza Bingo, in which patrons could purchase $1 tickets and then compare the tickets to a master board to see if they had won any prizes. The master board had “Bingo” printed at the top, with five numbers below each letter and a “free” space in the middle. A bartender changed the numbers daily based on a random drawing from a deck of cards. In August 2013, Officer William Rosenstock of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (the police) (plaintiff) inspected Legion and learned that Legion’s small-games-of-chance and bingo licenses had expired in April 2013 and that Legion was still conducting such games, including Bonanza Bingo. Rosenstock cited Legion for violating Pennsylvania’s Local Option Small Games of Chance Act and Bingo Law. An administrative-law judge (ALJ) dismissed the citation on due-process grounds and noted that Bonanza Bingo was a lawful form of bingo. The Liquor Control Board (the board) reversed the ALJ’s decision in part, finding, among other things, that Legion had violated Pennsylvania law by offering Bonanza Bingo after its bingo license had expired. The board also concluded that Bonanza Bingo was lawful under the Bingo Law. The police appealed to the trial court, arguing that Bonanza Bingo was not authorized under the Bingo Law, because the statutory definition of bingo encompassed only “call bingo,” which involved a card or board with a “free” space and rows of figures that were covered by the player based on numbers called by an announcer. According to the police, Bonanza Bingo was closer to a pull-tab or strip-ticket game, i.e., a game involving tickets with numbers or symbols in which one or more of each set of tickets had been predesignated as a winner. The trial court rejected the police’s argument, and the police appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Leavitt, C.J.)

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