Quote Originally Posted by Norm View Post
Some states have written into the law that businesses have the specific right to ban firearms. A casino could post “no card counting” signs. But, that’s just a casino policy. It doesn’t have the force of law, and the law doesn’t call card counting cheating. It would be like a restaurant demanding a jacket and tie. They can refuse entry. But, they can’t detain and interrogate you for not wearing a tie.
What you say sounds correct. I was just throwing that out there in case there were such a law. If Mills had held firm and the police took him in, fingerprinted him and forced him to divulge his ID, it sound like he would have a legitimate action against the state for (1) illegal arrest (or illegal detention), (2) divulging his identity to the casino without his permission. Mills would, and still has, the right to sue Maryland Live for forcibly detaining him. In a trespass case, the police will always side with the business in terms of making you leave the premises, but they should not demand you provide ID. Also, the business never has the right to detain you unless you are suspected of committing a crime.

It is a sad truth, too, that casinos will at times deliberately wait until a card counter is losing before they back him off. I have that straight from surveillance at one of Vegas' leading casinos. It's like sticking the knife in you (backing you off) and then turning it (but waiting for you to be in the losers column first). There was no evidence in the article, however, that the casino deliberately waited until Mills was losing.