Cite as: 509 U. S. 418 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court, except as to Part III-D.*
In this case we must decide whether federal statutes that prohibit the broadcast of lottery advertising by a broadcaster licensed to a State that does not allow lotteries, while allowing such broadcasting by a broadcaster licensed to a State that sponsors a lottery, are, as applied to respondent, consistent with the First Amendment.
I
While lotteries have existed in this country since its founding, States have long viewed them as a hazard to their citizens and to the public interest, and have long engaged in legislative efforts to control this form of gambling. Congress has, since the early 19th century, sought to assist the States in controlling lotteries. See, e. g., Act of Mar. 2, 1827, § 6, 4 Stat. 238; Act of July 27, 1868, § 13, 15 Stat. 196; Act of June 8, 1872, § 149, 17 Stat. 302. In 1876, Congress made it a crime to deposit in the mails any letters or circulars concerning lotteries, whether illegal or chartered by state legislatures. See Act of July 12, 1876, ch. 186, § 2, 19 Stat. 90, codified at Rev. Stat. § 3894 (2d ed. 1878). This Court rejected a challenge to the 1876 Act on First Amendment grounds in Ex parte Jackson, 96 U. S. 727 (1878). In response to the persistence of lotteries, particularly the Louisiana Lottery, Congress closed a loophole allowing the advertisement of lotteries in newspapers in the Anti-Lottery Act of 1890, ch. 908, § 1, 26 Stat. 465, codified at Supp. to Rev. Stat. § 3894 (2d ed. 1891), and this Court upheld that Act against a First Amendment challenge in In re Rapier, 143
*Justice O'Connor joins Parts I, II, III-A, III-B, and IV of this opinion. Justice Scalia joins all but Part III-C of this opinion. Justice Kennedy joins Parts I, II, III-C, and IV of this opinion. Justice Souter joins all but Parts III-A, III-B, and III-D of this opinion.
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