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to this particular point in that particular
ease.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gleason.
DELEGATE GLEASON: The point I
make is that we here are going to decide
on the recommendation of your Committee.
We are going to base our decision, I pre-
sume, on the basis of the meaning of those
words that you say that word has. That's
why I think we have got to be extremely
careful as to what that meaning really is
because that will have an effect on court
decisions.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: 1 cannot an-
swer you as to what court decisions may be
because by the time this constitution is
presented to the people next May, that will
already have been decided. Lotteries are
lotteries as the definition generally is un-
derstood. You asked what the individual
views of members would be. All I can say
to you is it was our consensus that bingo
as now presently played is not a part of
the lotteries as are generally understood.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mosner.
DELEGATE MOSNER: Judge Sherbow,
wasn't most of the information you gave
here this afternoon available to the Eney
Commission? If so, why do you think they
voted overwhelmingly to delete it from the
constitution?
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Obviously not
because this case arose long after the Eney
Commission had adjourned and published
its report. It is a case growing up in Anne
Arundel County. If the case had started
prior to that, I doubt very much if they
had it.
But the Eney Commission was very care-
ful in its report to point this out. It was
not saying lottery was good or bad. It
simply had concluded that they were not
going to put this into the constitution.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Cardin.
DELEGATE CARDIN: Delegate Sher-
bow, I wonder if you would define for me
lottery in a different sense. The gasoline
and food store lotteries as I would term
them obviously are a give away. And so is
the chance that you gamble that you will
get the second half or the duplicate of
something for which you are looking. Is
that a lottery?
DELEGATE SHERBOW: No, that is
not a lottery but for a totally different rea-
son. The give-aways at the gasoline sta-
tions are on a totally different ground.
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There you, the individual, give nothing.
You do not buy a lottery ticket. You give
up nothing of value. You do not do any-
thing except go to a place where they give
you something in the nature of a ticket.
You are not even required to buy anything-.
Therefore, these distinctions occur. One,
they may cross state lines. It does not vio-
late the federal laws. You could not take a
lottery ticket across the state lines. You
could not have them given publicity by
radio and television because they would
then 1)9 violating federal laws. These are
items which are totally different. Just as
when you are lucky enough to catch the
home run hitter at a ball game and happen
to have his name picked simply out of a
hat. You have given up nothing of value.
You have not even bought anything. You
have not put down any money. In lottery,
you give up the money on the chance that
you may be one who will obtain something.
That is the distinction.
The federal government has g-one a step
further since you remind me of it. They
are now in the process of passing through
the Senate and House, it has already
passed one, ready for the other, a prohi-
bition against federal banks even selling
these lottery tickets because they consider
them of that nature.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Cardin.
DELEGATE CARDIN: Then the chief
distinction is in order for it to be lottery
there must he purchase by the individual.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Or giving of
something of value. It does not have to be
a purchase. If you said to me that before
I could participate in your give-away, I
had to actually do something which re-
quired me to give up something of value,
even if it is a purchase, that would be
invalid.
To make it legal, you have to give me
something which is completely for nothing.
Saying I come to your gas station you
hand me the ticket, you cannot make me
buy gas.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Cardin.
DELEGATE CARDIN: One last ques-
tion. Is there any possibility of a change
in opinion, a judicial opinion, of the defini-
tion of lottery.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Well, if you
ask me what are the courts going to do
at any given time, I could never answer
you. I can only say the greatest saving grace in American life is the fact in our
Constitution we have little words like in-
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