Gambling

Simplification of the laws which define criminal offenses and decriminalization of behavior no longer warranting the enforcement mechanisms of the criminal law were two principal objectives of the Criminal Code Revision Commission. Chapter 39 of the Criminal Code contains the revision of Maine's anti-gambling statutes and illustrates as well as any Code chapter the application of these objectives to the formulation of substantive criminal offenses. The substantive provisions of the prior law failed, for the most part, to define key terms. Without such definitions, the provisions of Title 17 which established the elements of an offense were often prolix and exceedingly specific in an effort to encompass all forms of prohibited behavior. In contrast, the Criminal Code Revision Commission relied heavily on definition of the elements of particular crimes to stream-line Maine's penal laws. By creating a definitional foundation for criminal offenses, the draftsmen of the Criminal Code have been able to articulate succinctly the elements of unlawful conduct. The Code's new gambling provisions typify this definitional approach. A comprehensive array of definitions in Chapter 39 permits all punishable gambling offenses to be assimilated into three concise and straight-forward sections. In addition to the new statutory structure, a significant substantive feature of the new gambling laws is the decriminalization of "social gambling." The penal provisions of Chapter 39 apply exclusively to the entrepreneur or promoter of unlawful gambling activity, and represent a legislative policy decision to concentrate the resources of the criminal justice system upon those who profit from the gambling of others. The new gambling laws are therefore noteworthy in two respects. Structurally, they are an example of the consolidated and stream-lined draftsmanship undertaken by the Commission. Substantively, the new provisions represent a significant shift in focus away from the social gambler and toward promoters of gambling.