Blackjack at Thirty Thousand Feet: America's Attempt to Enforce Its Ban On In-Flight Gambling Extraterritorially

Authors

Steven Grover

Publication Date

3-1-1998

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

This Comment examines the United States' ban on in-flight gambling on foreign air carriers servicing the United States. It argues that the Convention on International Civil Aviation ("Chicago Convention"), grants the United States the authority and the jurisdiction to impose such a law, arguments advanced by legal scholars to the contrary notwithstanding. However, in the interests of global harmony and to ensure that the international civil aviation industry will continue to thrive as it has in the past, this Comment argues that the United States should repeal its ban on in-flight gambling. In analyzing this issue, this Comment first looks at the statute imposing the ban and its legislative history. Next, this Comment examines the position of each party on this issue: first, the position of the United States and the reasons for enacting this law, then, the position of the international airlines and their primary arguments and interests. The discussion then explores the provisions of the Chicago Convention, which granted the United States jurisdiction to impose its ban on in-flight gambling. Finally, this Comment will argue that while the United States has both the authority and the jurisdiction to ban in- flight gambling on international flights, Congress should repeal its ban, at least with regard to foreign air carriers.

DOI

10.37419/TWLR.V4.I2.5

First Page

231

Last Page

247

Recommended Citation

Steven Grover, Blackjack at Thirty Thousand Feet: America's Attempt to Enforce Its Ban On In-Flight Gambling Extraterritorially, 4 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 231 (1998).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/TWLR.V4.I2.5