Opinion ID: 3011246
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Constitutional and Civil Rights Claims

Text: Appellants' sixth count also alleges violations of the Equal Protection Clause, the Due Process Clause, Article 1, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, and 42 U.S.C. S 1983. As the district court correctly noted, this count fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted for several reasons. First, appellants' allegations of state action are insufficient. State regulation and the CCC's authorization of casino activities do not transform the casinos into state actors. See Uston v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 448 F. Supp. 116, 118 (D. Nev. 1978); State v. Sanders, 448 A.2d 481, 486 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1982) (sear ch by casino employees does not constitute state action). It is well established that [m]ere approval of or acquiescence in the initiatives of a private party is not sufficient to justify holding the State responsible for those initiatives under the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment. Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 1004-05, 102 S.Ct. 2777, 2786 (1982); Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 350-51, 95 S.Ct. 449, 453-54 (1974). Second, appellants have not suffered any equal protection clause violation inasmuch as under the rational basis test applicable for a non-protected class such as card-counters subject to CCC r egulations, see Bally Mfg. Corp. v. New Jersey Casino Contr ol Comm'n, 426 A.2d 1000, 1005 (N.J.) (casino regulations examined under rational basis test), appeal dismissed, 454 U.S. 804, 102 S.Ct. 77 (1981), the countermeasur es used by the casinos and authorized by the CCC are rationally related to the legitimate state interest in protecting the financial viability of the casino industry. See N.J. Stat. Ann. S 5:121b(12). Third, we are satisfied that the appellants do not have a constitutionally protected property interest in the opportunity to gamble and thus the activities of which they complain do not violate their due process rights. Therefore, the district court properly dismissed the constitutional and civil rights claims in the sixth count of the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.7 _________________________________________________________________ 7. We hasten to add that we do not suggest that our holding means that the casinos have carte blanche in dealing with their patrons and they do not suggest otherwise. For example, both federal and state discrimination laws would be implicated if casinos discriminated among their patrons on the basis of their inclusion in protected groups. 26