Recently, the 17th Annual Saratoga Institute on Equine, Racing, & Gaming Law Conference, coordinated by the Albany Law School in New York, was held. Among the topics discussed was the chances of the Supreme Court overturning the controversial sports betting gambling law, PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act).
In the coming months, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear New Jersey’s appeal to have the federal sports betting act repealed, allowing states to dictate their own policies on sports betting.
While some issues appear clear cut and attendees of the conference usually have an idea of where the winds blow on these issues, in the case of PASPA, it seems that the legal experts are stumped. The fact that the Supreme Court agreed to hear New Jersey’s appeal came as quite a surprise to all concerned when the decision was announced in June, and it now seems impossible to predict how the court will rule. A decision is expected to be made sometime in 2018.
Law professor Marc Edelman summed it up by saying: “I would not put money on anything, even if I legally could.”
The Supreme Court’s decision will be regarding the fact of whether or not the betting act violates the 10th Amendment.
“Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” reads the 10th Amendment.
If the Supreme Court rules that PASPA is unconstitutional, the major sports leagues – who have been the chief opponents to changes to the law – will demand that the court create regulatory guidelines on a federal level that govern sports betting.
While the Supreme Court may rule against New Jersey’s appeal, at least some of the legal experts who were present at the discussion believe that it will be ruled that PASPA is unconstitutional. Allowing the gambling on sports betting, therefore, would be the prerogative of the state, and would allow New Jersey to enact its 2014 legislation which repeals sports betting restrictions placed on the state.
Since 2014, New Jersey has had court after court rule against its demand to allow legal sports betting, and it came as a surprise to all – even to the Garden State itself – that the Supreme Court agreed to hear its appeal.
