2008 (Transition)
(the gambler’s defense, once
recognized in United
States v. Wallace, 15 CMA 659, 36 CMR 148 (1966), was a court-made
principle based wholly on a public policy against gaming, whether legal
or
illegal; since Wallace, legal gambling has grown both in
acceptance and
popularity in society, and governments at all levels sanction and often
tax a
broad scope of gambling activities; when the military allows gambling
at
service clubs around the globe, it is inconsistent for an appellate
court to
continue to classify legal gambling as being against public policy;
debts and
offenses that result from legal gambling should not be treated
differently than
those that occur from other legal conduct; when a servicemember writes
a check
to participate in legal gambling, he or she should not be able to rely
on
antiquated public policy to avoid his or her legal obligations; where a
judicial
decision is based on public policy and that policy has changed, the
doctrine of
stare decisis does not prohibit an appellate court from revisiting that
decision; because the rationale supporting the gambler’s defense is no
longer
valid, Wallace is now overruled).