1972, June, Pg. 15. Gambling Under the New Colorado Criminal Code.

• Author: by Harvey B. Cochran

1 Colo.Law. 15

Colorado Lawyer

1972.

1972, June, Pg. 15.

Gambling Under the New Colorado Criminal Code

15Vol. 1, No. 8, Pg. 15

Gambling Under the New Colorado Criminal Codeby Harvey B. CochranHarvey B. Cochran, Denver, was a member of the staff of the Legislative Drafting Office for the Colorado State Legislature, and was one of the principal drafters of the new Criminal Code, which goes into effect July 1, 1972.When the new Colorado Criminal Code takes effect July 1, 1972, the law relating to gambling in the state of Colorado will have undergone a major change in both substance and philosophy. The law formerly reflected a moral judgment which condemned gambling per se but recognized the universality of this human propensity by providing relatively mild penalties for those who indulged it. Gambling was essentially a local problem and its commercial aspects were officially abhorred as being a departure from the puritan ethic which regarded hard, honest work as the only acceptable means of earning a livelihood or gaining a fortune.

Previous LawThe basic crime, unchanged since its enactment in territorial days, provided a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred fifty dollars as the penalty to be imposed upon conviction of any person who ". . . shall play at any game whatsoever, for any sum of money or other property of value, or shall make any bet or wager for any sum of money or other property of value, upon the result of such game . . ."(fn1) The same penalty was provided for inducing minors to gamble.(fn2)

Slightly more severe penalties were provided for activities associated with the commercial gambling of that day. Keeping gambling rooms could cost the culprit not less than thirty dollars or ten days in jail or both, and not more than five hundred dollars or thirty days in jail or both.(fn3) Keeping a gambling table, gambling for a livelihood, or being a "common gambler" was more serious, and the transgressor might find himself accommodated at the county jail for not less than three months nor more than one year, and out of pocket at least two hundred but not more than five hundred dollars.(fn4) All of the former sections are couched in the language of a hundred years ago and indicate the local and moral nature of the problem as it existed and was viewed at that time.

Gambling Under the New Code...