Scholarship program, repeats itself endlessly. That Casino Night in downtown Atlanta? Yes, the Atlanta
song, by the way, never talks about the life cycle of Bar brought casino gambling to downtown Atlanta.
gambling. Undeniably, gambling brings with it a certain thrill;
there’s an adrenaline rush with winning money; the
All the sunny promises and predictions about gam- entertainment value is real. Those aspects were all
bling skip over what things look like when things go on display at Casino Night even though, important-
sour, after the thrill is gone. It’s not easy to remove ly, none of the gambling was with real money. There
casinos and restore a city after gambling has run its were no prizes, no real winners, and no losers either.
course. And few gambling advocates seem interest- Instead, there was just plain old fun. The event space
ed in any serious discussion about the crime aspects, at 200 Peachtree was full of members and their
the inevitable personal bankruptcies, and possible friends, who were relaxing and having a good time.
political corruption. On top of this, all of the proceeds went towards the
Atlanta Bar Association’s Summer Law Internship
You have to wonder whether gambling advocates
Program, a great cause if there ever was one.
know that in 1980 the American Psychological Asso-
ciation recognized pathological gambling as a men- At its core, Casino Night was a purely social event – a
tal disorder. Gambling can jeopardize relationships, chance for attorneys to roll the dice, play cards, and
lead to social withdrawal, and cause a host of other track the results.
maladies.
And the real results were squarely in line with one of
None of this seems to matter to those who want to the important missions of the Atlanta Bar: fostering
bring gambling to Georgia. You might remember a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in the practice
what the sponsor of SB 79, Sen. Brandon Beach (R- of law. If you were at Casino Night, you saw this; and
Alpharetta), said when his bill recently failed to get if you were not, there’s always next year!
out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
“I am not discouraged. I will double down and plan
to crisscross the state starting in April” to build sup-
port for passing the bill in 2018.
James D. Blitch IV
In light of these concerns, why did the Atlanta Bar
President, Atlanta Bar Association
Association recently hold, on April 13, its first ever
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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
& HOW TO JOIN IN!
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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