No. 21-275

Stars Interactive Holdings (IOM) Ltd., fka Amaya Group Holdings (IOM) Ltd., et al. v. Kentucky, ex rel. J. Michael Brown, Secretary of the Governor's Executive Cabinet

Lower Court: Kentucky
Docketed: 2021-08-25
Status: Dismissed
Type: Paid
Amici (1) Experienced Counsel
Tags: constitutional-law due-process excessive-fines gambling-losses kentucky-loss-recovery-act kentucky-supreme-court online-poker statutory-damages treble-damages
Key Terms:
DueProcess Punishment ClassAction JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether an award of statutory damages violates due process when it exceeds by a factor of more than 30 any conceivable harm

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED Kentucky’s Loss Recovery Act allows any person to sue a gambling winner for treble the amount of another person’s gambling losses. For the first time in its history, the Commonwealth of Kentucky filed suit under the Loss Recovery Act on its own behalf, seeking to recover the combined losses of its citizens on petitioners’ online poker website over a five-year period. In a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court of Kentucky held that Kentucky was entitled to recover the value of every losing wager by Kentucky players without accounting for any winning wagers by those same players, and without regard to the amount of profits petitioners made from those wagers. After trebling, the judgment—the largest in Kentucky history— stands at $870 million, or more than $1.3 billion including interest. The questions presented are: 1. Whether an award of statutory damages violates due process when it exceeds by a factor of more than 30 any conceivable harm. 2. Whether the Excessive Fines Clause prohibits a State from punishing a defendant by imposing a penalty 50 times in excess of the defendant’s revenue earned from the prohibited conduct. (I)

Docket Entries

2021-10-04
Petition Dismissed - Rule 46.
2021-09-30
Joint stipulation to dismiss pursuant to Rule 46.1 filed.
2021-09-23
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 25, 2021.
2021-09-22
Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 24, 2021 to October 25, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
2021-09-10
Brief amicus curiae of Washington Legal Foundation filed.
2021-08-23
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 24, 2021)

Attorneys

Commonwealth of Kentucky, ex rel. J. Michael Brown, Secretary of the Governor's Executive Cabinet
Joshua Adam MatzKaplan Hecker & Fink LLP - New York, NY, Respondent
Joshua Adam MatzKaplan Hecker & Fink LLP - New York, NY, Respondent
Stars Interactive Holdings (IOM) Ltd., f/k/a Amaya Group Holdings (IOM) Ltd., and Rational Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.
Lisa Schiavo BlattWilliams & Connolly LLP, Petitioner
Lisa Schiavo BlattWilliams & Connolly LLP, Petitioner
Washington Legal Foundation
John Mercer Masslon IIWashington Legal Foundation, Amicus
John Mercer Masslon IIWashington Legal Foundation, Amicus