HARTFORD, Ct. — The long-running case of Clarence Jackson, who has been fighting for 19 years to claim $5.8 million in lottery winnings, encountered another setback Tuesday when a legislative committee voted 13-12 to reject his case.
Jackson held a winning lottery ticket, but tried to redeem it three days past the deadline. Since then, Jackson has been on a roller coaster with the once-in-a-lifetime ticket that would have made him a millionaire.
(See CT lawmakers again seek lottery winnings from 1995 ticket, Lottery Post, Feb. 23, 2015.)
Legislators on the committee that oversees gambling were sharply divided as advocates said Jackson should be awarded the prize and opponents said that no exceptions should be made.
Anne Noble, CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corp., said changing the rules for Jackson or anyone else would set a dangerous precedent because there are about $255 million in unclaimed lottery prizes dating from 1996.
"We were pleased with the outcome today," Noble said after the committee's narrow vote. "The foundation of our position is really fiscal integrity, not opening a Pandora's box, and treating everyone the same."
The vast majority of major prizes are claimed, she said, adding that only $12 million out of nearly $700 million in prizes last year went unclaimed.
Under the rules at the time of Jackson's purchase, lottery winners had a full year to claim their prize. Jackson, however, arrived at lottery headquarters three days after the one-year deadline had expired. He later filed a lawsuit against the lottery, but he lost when a judge issued a summary judgment against him.
Since then, Jackson has returned to the Capitol numerous times, often showing up near the end of the session as lawmakers consider an amendment on his behalf. He won on an 81-64 vote in the House of Representatives in 2004, but a bill on his behalf has never been passed in the Senate. The ticket was purchased in 1995, discovered as a winner in 1996, and Jackson's dilemma debated in the legislature off and on since 1997.
Sen. Eric Coleman, a veteran legislator and key supporter of Jackson, said the battle is not over. He predicted that the issue will come up again as an amendment in the House or Senate in coming months.
"I'm one of those who isn't deterred by temporary setbacks," Coleman said. "That's just the way I am. It definitely is not over."
With various amendments each year, Coleman says it would not be unusual to award the prize to Jackson by extending the deadline for three days.
"Every session, we change the rules to allow someone to be eligible for some state benefit that they otherwise would not be entitled to," Coleman said. "I'm not sure why Clarence Jackson — or anyone else who fits into that category — is being treated any differently. What we do, at least on an annual basis, is change the rules for some aspect of state benefits."
Regarding the costs, Coleman said the prize would be paid over six years by revenue from the purchase and sale of lottery tickets.
"It's not like we're asking the taxpayers to pay an additional dime," Coleman said. "All of the payout to Mr. Jackson would come from other unclaimed lottery winnings."
Rep. Stephen Dargan, the committee co-chairman who voted in favor of Jackson's case, said he expects the battle to continue.
"Nothing's dead until midnight of the night of adjournment," Dargan said, "and even then it's not dead."
If he had a full year to claim the ticket why did he wait until the deadline passed? Did he lose the ticket and just found it too late or something?
was it ever said why he was 3 days late. After all if they give a year to claim then you should be responsible enough to go claim it within a year unless you were sick and in the hospital or maybe in jail...then jail should not be a factor. Being sick and in a hospital I could understand.
Those unclaimed prizes are a part of the lotteries operating budgets. They have come to count on it.
Which is why they aren't trustworthy.
" Legislators on the committee that oversees gambling were sharply divided as advocates said Jackson should be awarded the prize and opponents said that no exceptions should be made.
Anne Noble, CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corp., said changing the rules for Jackson or anyone else would set a dangerous precedent because there are about $255 million in unclaimed lottery prizes dating from 1996. "
I agree with her, it would be a bad precedent to start. Next thing you know, someone will try to show up with a faked winning ticket for one of the expired games.
Fake ticket? Lotteries have a complex system to validate tickets. Producing a ticket with the winning numbers even on the right paper won't wiggle you into a win. It will put you behind bars for fraud though.
I can't believe he's spent 19 years trying to get them to change the rules. He knew the rules when he bought the ticket, he had ample time to redeem it and for whatever reason, didn't. give it up. It's called screwing up, just move on.
Wishing you all the best Mr. Jackson.
"It's not like we're asking the taxpayers to pay an additional dime," Coleman said.
Of course not. You're asking them to pay $5.8 million that they don't have to.
And why is this guy working so hard on behalf of one particular player who screwed up 20 years ago? Why isn't he trying to extend the eligibility period of every ticket sold in the last 20 years?
I do not understand why states put a time limit on claiming a winning ticket. When you purchase a ticket and that ticket becomes a winner, then it is unclaimed property of the ticket holder until the holder claims the prize. Every state has Unclaimed (Escheat) property statutes that effectively says when property is unclaimed for a certain length of time it reverts to the state for safekeeping until the owner of the property can be located.
NO. NO. NO.
It's a clearly cut situation where they have to be told to forget all his appeal executions.
If you're not so concerned with your tickets, so as to let them out of your sight/attention, then forget it if you miss the deadline.
It's just about swallowing your sorrows, at this point.
How dare him/her think they deserve the money? That's stupid.
I've been playing my tickets out of an envelope, I've had to repeatedly re-enforce the envelope with tape, over the years.
I've long made it a practice to know where my tickets are. I have only two stash places for my envelope.
So, who's this guy, who wants to claim his 5 million.
Who the heck would forget to check their tickets?
Mr Jackson, forget it. You had a whole year to collect your money and you seem to sat on your butt and let your ticket expire, now you want a rule change just for your lazy butt, it's not happening.
If you were in a coma, then yes you should get the money, but it seems you just didn't check your ticket for over a year, that's your lose and the State's gain. Check your ticket next time and legislator's do what you were put into office to do and stop wasting tax payers money.
One year is more than enough time to turn in your winning ticket.
Mr. Jackson's sister found the ticket after learning that there was an unclaimed ticket in the community. She found it forty five minutes before the deadline to get it "Validated". The two did not know then that they could have validated the ticket by going to the store where it was purchased. The store was still open at 11:15 pm.
On a separate note... I have learned to make a mental note of where my ticket is and at what time of day it is. So, when it becomes a winning ticket I will not be worried about fantasy robbers lurking in the dark.
Plus my other "to do" list.
It's not called a Deadline for nothing. Anything pass the "Deadline"...is Dead! A buddy of mine and his wife went on a Cruise to Mexico a few years back- well what do you know, on one of the stops, all who disembarked to tour the city were told that the ship departs from Port at 3pm. Well Jack & Rachel decide, we running late but the ship " will wait"...right. Learned a lesson..big time.
Probably so they don't have hundreds or thousands of winning tickets out there years down the road. Also, most people aren't so careless and redeem them before the time is up. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the time limit. The issue is people buying tickets and not being responsible with them. Don't play if you aren't prepared to keep your ticket safe and follow the game to see if you won anything or not.
I feel bad for this guy, but he should have known better than to buy a ticket and not check for an entire year whether or not it might have won anything. I keep my tickets in one set location and I check once every month (though each MM draw I check to see if there's a jackpot winner). Admittedly I did misplace my ticket once, all the other playslips and old tickets were in the same place, but not the current valid one. I stopped what I was doing and looked through things until I found it, and that's even before it was worth millions. I can't imagine knowing it could be worth millions and not dropping everything I'm doing to find it.
Jackson's oft-told story, revived again this month during a public hearing conducted by the Public Safety and Security Committee, begins around 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, 1996, the date on which Jackson's sister discovered he possessed a winning lottery ticket purchased Friday, Oct. 13, 1995. Media reports about an unclaimed jackpot had prompted her search.
At that point, Jackson had 45 minutes to validate the ticket before it expired. Lottery headquarters were closed that Sunday and they were closed the next day, too, which happened to be Columbus Day.
There is one argument and possibly a precedent the Jackson supporters should make and that is the fact the IRS extends the tax deadline when April 15 is on a weekend.
I agree with the legislative committee, it was right to reject his case. Mr Jackson had a whole year to claim his prize, bit failed to do so, the lottery can not be held responsible for that
I agree with Ann Noble:
Anne Noble, CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corp., said changing the rules for Jackson or anyone else would set a dangerous precedent because there are about $255 million in unclaimed lottery prizes dating from 1996.
I'm one of those who can't understand why someone would go to the trouble to buy a ticket then never check it for a whole year.
I check my tickets right after the drawing. I guess because I really really really really really (did I say really?) want to retire. Really.
Maybe they could have overlooked the fact that they were closed on Sunday and again on Monday for Columbus Day. But, Jackson did NOT bother to go to the Lottery Headquarters on Tuesday. He didn't try to collect until Wednesday and they said "No".
"It's not like we're asking the taxpayers to pay an additional dime," Coleman said. "All of the payout to Mr. Jackson would come from other unclaimed lottery winnings."
Sounds likes Coleman doesn't give a dam about other players who didn't claim their prizes in time, he wants their unclaimed money to go to Mr. Jackson. How can he pretend to want equal treatment for everyone?
Two months would be the longest I might need to claim a jackpot. I'd need to coordinate with advisers and contact those of whom I might like to share the jackpot with to avoid paying taxes twice....If they're part of the initial claim then they'd be responsible for their taxes.
His sister should have called lottery headquarters when she found the ticket or he could have signed it, get some witnesses and have the retailer where he bought it try to validate it. But he didn't do either.
If I thought I had a million dollar ticket that I forgot about for over a year. I would not put myself through the agony of checking the number. I would rather not know that I won millions then to think that I did not find a ticket in time to claim the prize.
Sure did know the rules- that is why his been fighting to collect. Ever so often one reads of a winner coming in at the " last minute" ..Just because they can. In fact Todd posted a news piece a while ago when the guy responded when asked " why wait till the Last minute"- because I wanted to or can.
If you have a year to collect and you feel the need to wait...hey, that's fine- if you looking for sympathy, you'll find it in the dictionary.
Same. In fact, I'd be hesitant to check if it was any of the top 4 payouts.
i agree 100 percent
I bet (pardon the pun) his attorney is having a field day with this one.
Mr Jackson should only play by subscription, they will contact him if he wins.
3 days late or 3 months or 3 years, last I knew rules where rules and a deadline was a deadline. The only reasonable explanation I could consider, was a hospital or facility stay that he didn't have or could not be allowed access to a phone. I will wager that he used a telephone at one point in time between the day he purchased the ticket/night the numbers were drawn/364 days in between and the day he reported late to try and collect the winnings. If he waited for whatever reasons ???....wellllll.... I have ZERO sympathy, because you can't fix gormless.