Angelini v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co.

418 F.2d 111
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedNovember 6, 1969
DocketNo. 17156
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 418 F.2d 111 (Angelini v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Angelini v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., 418 F.2d 111 (7th Cir. 1969).

Opinion

DUFFY, Senior Circuit Judge.

The principal issue for us to decide in this case is whether Ill.Rev.Stats. Ch. 38, § 28-1(a) (10), which forbids knowing telephone transmission of “information as to wagers, betting odds, or changes in betting odds”, may, consistently with freedom of speech, be applied to a telephone subscriber who does not accept wagers but supplies odds quotations to bookmakers and gamblers, so as to bring him within 18 U.S.C. § 1084(d), which requires the termination of telephone service used for interstate transmission of gambling information “in violation of * * * State * * * law.”

Plaintiff filed complaint against the Illinois Bell Telephone Company (111. [113]*113Bell) alleging he had received a notice from the defendant that plaintiff’s telephone service would be terminated on April 8, 1968, pursuant to the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney. Jurisdiction was based on 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

The complaint asked for a temporary restraining order and for preliminary and permanent injunctions forbidding the termination of the telephone service.

A temporary restraining order was entered on April 5, 1968. Leave was granted to the United States to intervene as a defendant. Evidence was taken on four court days. The temporary restraining order was dissolved on May 3, 1968 after which plaintiff applied for the convening of a three-judge court.

On June 13, 1968, the District Court denied the application . for the three-judge court and overruled the motion for a preliminary injunction. It then entered judgment for the defendant and dismissed the complaint.

For many years, plaintiff Angelini operated a business known as “Angel and Kaplan Sports News Service”,1 with headquarters on North Clark Street in Chicago. A preliminary activity was to prepare and sell to a group of subscribers, a list or schedule of coming sport events. Each sports schedule has printed boxes left blank allowing for the insertion of other information.

The practice followed was that shortly before any of the events took place, the subscriber would telephone Mr. Angelini in Chicago. If a caller properly identified himself such as by using a code name or number, either plaintiff or one of his employees would permit the caller to listen to a recorded message which had been prepared either by plaintiff or under his direction. These recordings contained information which could be entered in the blank spaces on the printed list which had theretofore been distributed.

Plaintiff’s attorney insists that her client used the telephone only to express an opinion as to the relative strength of teams engaged in athletic contests, and that such use was not in violation of 111. Rev.Stats. Ch. 38, § 28-1 (a) (10). If such section is held to be applicable, plaintiff insists that it offends the First Amendment, United States Constitution.

It seems advisable to set forth one of the recordings which is typical of those usually used:

“Good morning. In the NBA playoff for tonight Boston will be at Detroit at 7:00 o’clock, that is, Boston at Detroit. Boston is one point. The total number is 231. For the exhibition baseball, Detroit is one twenty, Pittsburgh one forty, the Yankees are one twenty, St. Louis is one forty, San Francisco is a dollar and a half. The Cubs are one twenty, Philadelphia is one forty and the White Sox are one-twenty.. In the hockey for tonight I am only using one game, that is Chicago at Detroit at 7:00 o’clock on TV, that is Chicago at Detroit. Detroit is a straight five to seven over Chicago. If you miss anything, just hold on, please.”

A witness from the FBI testified that the information transmitted in the recording was the odds on sporting events mentioned. Thus, with reference to baseball games “The Cubs are one twenty” which meant that the Chicago Cubs were favored by odds of 6-5 (i. e., $1.20.-$1.00).

Quotations which were given by Angelini concerned baseball, basketball, football, hockey but not horse racing. The plaintiff did not himself place or accept bets or wagers.

Ill.Rev.Stats., Ch. 38, § 28-1 (a) (10) provides that it is unlawful to transmit by telephone “information as to wagers, betting odds, or changes in betting odds.”

In order to avoid applying this statute to information protected by the First [114]*114Amendment, it has been limited by court decisions to the “rapid” transmission of either actual wagers, betting odds or changes in betting odds to or by persons engaged directly or indirectly in gambling operations, a construction which preserves the freedom of speech but does not hinder the legislative purpose of suppressing gambling. Kelly v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., and United States of America; Kelly v. Western Union Telegraph Co., and United States of America, 325 F.2d 148, 152 (7 Cir., 1963); Telephone News System, Inc. v. Illinois Bell Telephone Company, 210 F.Supp. 471 (N.D.Ill., 1962), 220 F.Supp. 621, 639 (N.D.Ill., 1963), aff’d mem. 376 U.S. 782, 84 S.Ct. 1134, 12 L.Ed.2d 83 (1964).

It was shown in the case at bar that the transmission was “rapid” in that plaintiff distributed printed forms with blank spaces to be filled in with late information supplied by telephone, and that such information was intended to be received and was received by persons engaged in gambling activities.

Horace Boone testified that he had been a bookmaker in Petersburg, Virginia, and that during the past seven or eight years he frequently had placed long distance calls to plaintiff, Angelini’s telephone number in Chicago, and that he did so in order to obtain odds for use in his bookmaking. He paid $50 a week for this service in addition to the charge for the printed schedules. Boone was known to Angelini as “Antioch” and he testified that this name purported to identify the town in Illinois from which he was calling. Other geographical names appearing on the list of plaintiff’s subscribers included “Cicero,” “Decatur,” “Des Plaines,” “Maywood,” “Lockport,” “Peoria,” “Skokie,” “Rock Island” and “Quincy,” all of which are the names of cities or communities in Illinois. Most, if not all of those calling from these stations, called from locations beyond the state limits of Illinois.

Pursuant to warrants, FBI agents conducted a search of plaintiff’s premises on March 28, 1968, and again on April 4, 1968.

Plaintiff argues that Ill.Rev.Stats. Ch. 38, § 28-1 (a) (10) does not apply. This section reads, in part:

“(a) A person commits gambling when he: (10) knowingly transmits information as to wagers, betting odds, or changes in betting odds by telephone * * * or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or receipt of such information ; except that nothing in this subdivision (10) prohibits transmission or receipt of such information for use in news reporting of sporting events or contests.”

The testimony of Boone and Levine shows that plaintiff’s information was knowingly transmitted to professional bookmakers (Boone) and gamblers (one Harry S. Levine).

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Related

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441 F.2d 922 (Seventh Circuit, 1971)
Angelini v. Illinois Bell Telephone Company
418 F.2d 111 (Seventh Circuit, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
418 F.2d 111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/angelini-v-illinois-bell-telephone-co-ca7-1969.