* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Curran
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Request for State Legislation - Decriminalize "Friendly" Poker Games
FOR the purpose of respectfully requesting that members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2006/2007 Maryland General Assembly introduce legislation to decriminalize "friendly" poker games and provide a civil citation procedure for such activities.
Body
Recitals
Currently in Baltimore City, there is a criminal penalty for any and all gambling charges. Everyday, friends get together and play cards, where there is no house earning money and no business being run. In these situations, where money is being exchanged between friends, and there is no casino or house involved, and no business making money off the gambling of the individuals, there should be a civil remedy for the breakage of the law rather than a criminal one. The idea that there is so much crime around us and that Police Department resources are already being used to their limits, should be cause enough for these "friendly" poker games to be treated as a civil matter, rather than a criminal one.
On November 4, 2005, the Baltimore City Police raided an illegal poker club and charged 80 people with illegal gambling. Most of the people involved were upstanding citizens who did not even realize they were doing anything wrong. Even in this case, where the house was making money off the gambling members, in the end, few were actually criminally convicted, and it would seem that the raid was not the most productive use of Police Department Resources. With the prevalence of poker games on television and in clubs in schools, poker has quickly become one of America's favorite pastimes. The need to keep this type of gambling on the criminal side of the law is no longer justified. We need to focus our crime prevention on true criminal matters, rather than those crimes that are being committed by law abiding citizens, which could be diffused with an appropriate process of civil citation. The concept that organized gambling is not legal is well understood, however, the idea that having a poker night in a private residence is considered to be the same type of criminal matter as running a casino should be looked at and altered. There should be a procedure of citation outside of the criminal realm for these types of "friendly" gambling offenses.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body respectfully requests that the members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2006 Maryland General Assembly introduce legislation to decriminalize "friendly" poker games and provide a civil citation procedure for such activities.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Honorable Chair and Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2006/2007 Maryland General Assembly, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the Council.
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