Uston v. Hilton Hotels Corp.

448 F. Supp. 116, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18908
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedMarch 21, 1978
DocketCiv. LV 76-108 RDF
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 448 F. Supp. 116 (Uston v. Hilton Hotels Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Uston v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 448 F. Supp. 116, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18908 (D. Nev. 1978).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROGER D. FOLEY, Chief Judge.

This action is one of several cases filed by Kenneth Uston in this court and others over the last two years. In all, Uston has sought damages as well as injunctive relief to enjoin the respective casinos from refusing to allow him to play the game of “21”. The present action arises from an event which occurred at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel casino on June 29,1975. At approximately 6:00 P.M., Uston was approached by two security guards at a “21” table and was requested to leave the premises. The two guards escorted Uston to the hotel’s entrance where Uston was read the Nevada trespass statute. Uston thereafter departed. Uston alleges that he was asked to leave because he is a “better than average black jack (“21”) player.” 1

This case is presently before this Court on the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, it is the conclusion of this Court that summary judgment be granted in favor of the defendants.

Uston’s complaint contains various causes of action which may be divided into the state law claims and the federal law claims. The claims based on federal law will be discussed first.

This action is brought under various provisions of Title 28, United States Code, most notably §§ 1332 and 1343(3), and under the provisions of Title 42, United States Code, §§ 1983, 1985 and 1986. Uston asserts that certain rights secured by the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution have been denied him. After having considered the pleadings, affidavits and written arguments of counsel, it is the finding of this Court that there are no pertinent genuine issues of fact. Further, it is the finding of this Court that Uston has failed to state any federally recognized cause of action.

In order to predicate an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, it must be demonstrated, inter alia, that the deprivation of constitutional rights, the injury complained of, was brought about by state action, that is, took place under color of state law. It is well established that private conduct without some significant state involvement is not actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In opposing the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Uston asserts that the actions of the defendants in preventing him from playing the game of “21” were tantamount to state action (1) because of the extent to which the State of Nevada regulates the gaming industry, and (2) because the State of Nevada, charged with the enforcement of the gaming laws, has refused to prohibit the discrimination against card counters. Both contentions are without merit.

Mere state regulation of a private industry in and of itself does not constitute state action. Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 U.S. 163, 92 S.Ct. 1965, 32 L.Ed.2d 627 (1972). Something more, more in the nature of a substantial and direct state involvement in promoting the challenged activity, must be demonstrated in order to establish state action. In Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 95 S.Ct. 449, 42 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974), a private electric utility was subject to pervasive and detailed state regulation and licensing, similar to the extent that the gaming industry is controlled by Nevada. The Court, in holding that such licensing and regulation did not constitute state action, stated, at page 358, 95 S.Ct. at page 457:

“Metropolitan is a privately owned corporation, and it does not lease its facili *119 ties from the State of Pennsylvania. .It alone is responsible for the provision of power to its customers. In common with all corporations of the State it pays taxes to the State, and it is subject to a form of extensive regulation by the State in a way that most other business enterprises are not. But this was likewise true of the appellant club in Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, supra, where we said:
‘However detailed this type of regulation may be in some particulars, it cannot be said to in any way foster or encourage racial discrimination. Nor can it be said to make the State in any realistic sense a partner or even a joint venturer in the club’s enterprise.’ 407 U.S. at 176-177, [92 S.Ct. 1965.]
“All of petitioner’s arguments taken together show no more than that Metropolitan was a heavily regulated, privately owned utility, enjoying at least a partial monopoly in the providing of electrical service within its territory, and that it elected to terminate a service to petitioner in a manner which the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission found permissible under state law. Under our decision this is not sufficient to connect the State of Pennsylvania with the respondent’s action so as to make the latter’s conduct attributable to the State for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

In the case at hand, there has been no demonstration that the State of Nevada, either through its regulation and/or licensing of the gaming industry, has to any significant degree promoted or participated in the exclusion of persons suspected by gaming establishments to be card counters or in Uston’s words, “better than average black jack players.”

Similarly, the State of Nevada is under no obligation, statutory or otherwise, which, by its refusal to compel gaming establishments to allow card counters to play “21”, would attribute the defendants’ actions to state action. Uston has asserted that the omission by the State of Nevada to take any affirmative action to alleviate the discrimination against card counters, in light of Nevada Revised Statutes 463.151, is akin to approval of same, and therefore state action. NRS 463.151 requires the exclusion from gaming establishments of certain persons named on a list compiled by the Nevada Gaming Commission for various reasons, one of which is not card counting. 2 In essence, Uston argues that since the State of Nevada has enacted measures that require the exclusion of a limited class of undesirable persons, of which Uston is not a member, it thereby undertook the affirmative duty to compel the admittance of all persons, such as Uston, who were not named on the list compiled by the Nevada Gaming Commission. Such an argument strains logic. It is the judgment of this Court that NRS 463.151 gives rise to no affirmative obligation by the State of Nevada to compel gaming establishments to admit persons thought to be card counters. Since no duty exists, the failure to prohibit private action is not state action. As was stated in Cohen v. Illinois Institute of Technology, 524 F.2d 818 (7th Cir. 1975), at 826:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
448 F. Supp. 116, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18908, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/uston-v-hilton-hotels-corp-nvd-1978.