CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A judge has denied a Cheyenne man’s request to dismiss a lawsuit the Wyoming Lottery Corporation is pressing against him that seeks to force him to stop criticizing it to national lottery groups and others.
The corporation filed a lawsuit this spring protesting that Edward Atchison had written to national groups and Wyoming newspapers saying the lottery needs to do more to address problem gambling. The corporation seeks a court order directing him not to interfere with its business relationships.
District Judge Thomas Campbell of Cheyenne last week denied Atchison’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge ruled the lawsuit gave enough detail to put Atchison on notice of what the corporation’s claiming.
However, Campbell ruled he will hold a hearing Nov. 30 on the corporation’s request to amend its lawsuit and will require it to provide more detail about its claims.
Cheyenne lawyer Tim Kingston represents Atchison. In his request to dismiss the lawsuit, Kingston argued that it amounted to a “SLAPP suit,” meaning a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or a legal action designed to scare people so they won’t criticize or oppose an entity.
“What’s important is the judge has said he’s going to require the Wyoming Lottery Corporation to flesh out what their claims are, and to provide specific facts of allegedly defamatory statements made by Mr. Atchison, as well as fleshing out the facts of how they were damaged,” Kingston said Thursday.
Kingston said the judge’s order means the lottery corporation will have to show what contracts or business relationships it has that might have been impaired by Atchison.
“We’ve believed that they don’t have any facts that support their claims,” he said. “Now they’re going to have to put up or shut up.”
The Wyoming Legislature authorized the lottery corporation in 2013, and tickets went on sale last fall. Kingston said it’s clear the corporation is a state entity.
“It was created by the Legislature, authorized by the Legislature, signed by the governor,” Kingston said. “I believe they are a state agency or entity, and they have the resources and power of the state. And for a state entity to claim that it’s been defamed by a citizen who has First Amendment rights, I think is an outrageous thing and a very chilling thing.”
Cheyenne lawyer Matthew D. Kaufman represents the lottery corporation in the lawsuit. He declined comment Thursday on Campbell’s ruling.
In an interview in March, after the lawsuit was filed, Kaufman said the lottery’s action against Atchison is not a “SLAPP suit.”
Kaufman said in March that in order to sell tickets to the multistate Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries, the Wyoming lottery must be in good standing with organizations such as the Multi-State Lottery Association and the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.
Kaufman said in March that Atchison had contacted the national lottery groups and alleged that the Wyoming lottery was not operating according to its statutory mandates. He said Atchison’s actions threatened the existence of the lottery, and the lottery felt it had to file the lawsuit to protect itself.
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An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of attorney Tim Kingston in one reference.
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