The state of New Jersey has received a boost in its efforts to convince the Supreme Court to allow it to offer legal sports betting at casinos and racetracks. Five other states have filed ‘amicus briefs‘ (“someone who is not a party to a case and is not solicited by a party, but who assists a court by offering information that bears on the case,” Wikipedia) on behalf of New Jersey’s efforts to legalize sports betting within its borders.
The Attorney Generals for West Virginia, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wisconsin entered their briefs shortly after a similar one was filed by sports betting law expert and Florida State associate professor Ryan Rodenberg. In his brief, Rodenberg said that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), essentially a federal ban on sports betting in all but four states, gave professional sports leagues unconstitutional powers.
A spokesperson for Mississippi’s Attorney General, Jim Hood said that the Magnolia State joined other states in the amicus brief “to ensure the interests of the states were protected under the Tenth Amendment.”
“Whether a state permits legalized sports wagering is a question for that state’s legislature and not the federal government,” the spokesperson continued.
Wisconsin stressed in its amicus brief that it took no position “on the wisdom of the state and federal sports wagering laws in this case.” However, it expressed concern over the method in which industries were regulated by Congress.
“The concern of Amici States—the States of West Virginia, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wisconsin—is not what Congress regulates but how it does so,” read the brief. “Even where it has Article I authority to act, Congress may not force the States to act as the vehicle for implementing federal policy and thereby shift to the States political accountability for its actions. Such coercion is unconstitutional commandeering.”
“In upholding the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act … the Third Circuit radically expanded the doctrine of federal preemption by holding that Congress may forbid the States from repealing their existing laws without affirmatively setting forth a federal regulatory or deregulatory scheme,” the brief said.
This is not the first time that New Jersey has appealed to the US Supreme Court to hear its appeal in its six year battle to allow sports betting. The higher court turned down the state’s request in 2014.
