# Kefauver Part 1: testimony of Richard Ervin, Attorney General of Florida, on the 1949 wire-service law (Miami, 13 July 1950), pp. 177-189

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/kefauver-p1-ervin-testimony-1950-07-13/

Florida's Attorney General described the 1949 law "that banned wire service to bookmakers," the cancellation of 140 Western Union drops in south Florida, and the bookmakers' switch to long-distance telephone.

Richard Ervin, Attorney General of Florida, testified at Miami on 13 July 1950 with members of his staff (Part 1, pp. 177-189). Asked about section 365.02 of the Florida statutes, he said "that section is the 1949 law that banned wire service to bookmakers," and that before it the state railroad and public utilities commission "had no authority to cancel any private wire or leased wire because it was being used to furnish bookmaking information." He said the Florida Supreme Court upheld the law on December 10, 1949; that decision was not identified and is not filed here.

"There were 140 drops, I believe, in south Florida where the wire service was furnished by Western Union," he said, and after the commission cancelled them "the bookmakers in this area converted to telephone." He told the committee: "We think that there is no question but that the Continental Press Service is a national wire service." He asked for federal help, and of the committee's bill he said: "I think that the bill that your committee put out is a good bill, but I don't think it goes far enough."

Florida's anti-bookie law, Chapter 365, was upheld by the Florida Supreme Court in 1955 in a case in which Ervin was an appellant; that opinion is [filed with the wire-company cases](/items/courtlistener-southern-bell-v-1901-collins-83-so2d-865/).

## Sources

- U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, printed hearings, Part 1: Florida, via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/investigationofo01unit
- Full text of the volume (Internet Archive, OCR): https://archive.org/download/investigationofo01unit/investigationofo01unit_djvu.txt