The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Raffles constitute illegal gambling, DA's office says

By Cecily Barnes

Hundreds of people who raise funds for church groups, PTAs and other charities will soon be pegged as criminals. On Aug. 3, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office sent out a warning that raffles--a major fundraising avenue for most nonprofit groups--are illegal, and people caught organizing them could wind up spending six months behind bars and paying a $1,000 fine.

"It is a form of gambling and has been against the law in California since 1872," says Robin Wakshull, a deputy district attorney with the consumer protection unit.

Although the original intent of the law appears to be to protect consumers from being bilked in scams, many fundraisers that require the purchase of tickets are considered raffles and are legally defined as a form of gambling. According to Wakshull, it doesn't matter whether money raised through a raffle is used for charity or for profit--either way, it's illegal.

Leaders of PTAs and church organizations throughout the Bay Area--including Sunnyvale--are wondering how the D.A.'s warning will affect them.

"We have a raffle in conjunction with our silent auction, and we've done it every year for the past 13 years," says Pat Georgoff, president of Booksin Elementary School's Home and School Club. "What do we have to do, stop our lottery? That's like taking $4,000 out of our budget."

In March, Booksin Elementary School in San Jose raffled off two Beanie Babies and made $675. Four months earlier, the Home and School Club earned $3,500 by raffling off a trip to Hawaii donated by RT Peak Travel. "What are they going to do, arrest RT Peak Travel and the entire school district?" Georgoff asks.

On July 30, Presentation High School, a private school in San Jose, advertised a back-to-school fundraiser, inviting community members to purchase $100 raffle tickets for the chance to win a brand-new car. Meanwhile, California Penal Code Section 319 "prohibits any scheme for the distribution of property by chance among persons who have paid for the chance of obtaining the property, prize or gift."

Wakshull, slightly embarrassed, assures that she doesn't plan to chase down church groups and school clubs, but under California law, she reminds, lotteries are illegal. If people don't like it, she says, "they can go to their legislator."

"Hopefully most of these organizations want to obey the law," she adds.

Hesitant to say she'll prosecute PTA parents but just as wary of flagrantly ignoring the law, Wakshull sticks to a safe stance.

"I can't really give advice about how organizations can go about fundraising or increasing their profits; I can just say what the law is," she says.

Does this mean we'll have a military-style "don't ask, don't tell" policy?

"No," Wakshull says. "It's not OK to violate the law just because you didn't get caught."

Willow Glen Elementary School PTA president Joe Guerra chuckles when told about the DA's press release. "The district attorney's office may be a little overstaffed," he says. "It's also illegal to jaywalk, but the police department doesn't send out press releases saying so."

Guerra questions the intent of the law and asks who it protects.

"I don't think my two daughters are being led to gamble because we have a cake raffle at the PTA annual picnic," Guerra said. "At a certain point people in law-enforcement agencies need to keep their priorities straight."

The DA's office initially took notice of illegal lotteries after receiving a number of complaints about businesses that were raffling off Beanie Babies.

"The Beanie Baby seemed to be what triggered a bunch of complaints," Wakshull says. "Some of the stores out there may have thought that this was a fair way to distribute the Beanie Babies, but they also made $400 by doing it."

Ironically, even law-enforcement agencies jumped on the Beanie Baby bandwagon. Last month, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department held a raffle to raise funds for orphans of slain police officers. The highly publicized event was cut short once the district attorney phoned the sheriff.

After these incidents, the Santa Clara County DA's office decided that few people knew lotteries were illegal and it was important to send out a notice. For good or bad, the law prohibits all lotteries, whether they're put on by schools or individuals trying to get rich.

"We're not marshaling a posse to hunt down PTAs, but we certainly hope that by providing this information, more people will understand and abide by existing law," Wakshull says. "And as with any violation of the law, we respond to complaints and police reports of wrongdoing."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 12, 1998.
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