Mazzarino v. Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, 616 F. Supp. 3d 118

In June 2021 the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission (MSLC) announced the VaxMillions Giveaway: five $1,000,000 drawings for vaccinated Massachusetts residents.
Plaintiff Ricardo Mazzarino, a civilly committed resident at the Massachusetts Treatment Center (committed under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123A as sexually dangerous), attempted to register and provided proof of vaccination.
MSLC responded that the official terms excluded anyone “incarcerated (in a prison, jail, house of correction, or other penal institution) for a criminal offense or confined in a detention center under the laws of this state…” and informed Mazzarino he was not registered.
Mazzarino sued the MSLC and state officials Deborah Goldberg and Michael Sweeney (official and individual capacities), alleging violations of the Fourteenth Amendment—equal protection and due process—and seeking monetary damages.
Defendants moved to dismiss, arguing Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity for the MSLC and officials in their official capacities and that the individual-capacity claims fail to state plausible equal protection and substantive due process claims.
The court allowed the motion: suits against the MSLC and officials in their official capacities dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds; individual-capacity § 1983 claims dismissed for failure to state equal protection and due process claims (rational-basis review and no fundamental right to enter the lottery).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sovereign immunity under § 1983	MSLC and officials may be sued for constitutional violations	Eleventh Amendment bars suits against the Commonwealth/arms of the state; § 1983 does not abrogate immunity	Dismissed: MSLC and officials in official capacities protected by sovereign immunity (claims dismissed)
Equal Protection — exclusion of detainees from VaxMillions	Mazzarino was discriminatorily excluded as a civil detainee and denied equal protection	Excluding detainees was rationally related to legitimate public-health/publicity objectives (avoid negative publicity from featuring detained winners)	Dismissed: classification not suspect; rational-basis review satisfied; plaintiff failed to state a plausible equal protection claim
Substantive Due Process — right to enter lottery	Mazzarino claims a liberty/property interest in registering for the state-sponsored lottery	There is no fundamental right to participate in a state lottery; no recognized life, liberty, or property interest implicated	Dismissed: no fundamental right to participate in the lottery; substantive due process claim fails

Will v. Michigan Dep’t of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989) (states are not “persons” under § 1983; sovereign immunity principles)
Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159 (1985) (Eleventh Amendment bars suits against states absent waiver or abrogation)
Wojcik v. Massachusetts State Lottery Comm’n, 300 F.3d 92 (1st Cir. 2002) (MSLC is an arm of the state for Eleventh Amendment purposes)
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) (pleading standard: plausibility requirement)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (pleading standard: courts need not accept legal conclusions)
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432 (1985) (framework for suspect classifications and equal protection analysis)
Boivin v. Black, 225 F.3d 36 (1st Cir. 2000) (criminal/detainee classifications are not suspect; apply rational-basis review)
Engquist v. Oregon Dep’t of Agric., 553 U.S. 591 (2008) (rational-basis principles for classification review)
Bauza v. Morales Carrion, 578 F.2d 447 (1st Cir. 1978) (no protected entitlement to participate in a state lottery-like selection)
Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) (example of recognized fundamental right: marriage)
McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010) (example of recognized fundamental right: keep and bear arms)
Skinner v. Oklahoma ex rel. Williamson, 316 U.S. 535 (1942) (example of fundamental rights – procreation)