NJ urges Supreme Court to lift sports betting ban
New Jersey officials are urging the Supreme Court to lift of the sports betting ban on a federal level.
US.- New Jersey officials said that the US Supreme Court should lift the ban on sports betting in all but four states because it forces them to embrace a regulation that Congress wants. The brief filed this week is part of an ongoing case in the country as New Jersey is trying to overturn the federal law PASPA.
The high court is set to listen New Jersey’s arguments later this fall, which will be primarily centered around the fact that there is a US$150 billion illegal sports betting market in the United States each year. PASPA, a sports protection act that was passed in 1992, prevents states from offering gambling lines on sports. Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana were granted special exemptions, as all four of those states were offering some variation of sports lotteries back in 1992.
“To meet Congress’s objective of forestalling further legalization of sports wagering, PASPA directs States to maintain in effect their state-law prohibitions on the activity. Our constitutional structure does not permit Congress to regulate interstate commerce in that manner. Under our Constitution, if Congress wishes for sports wagering to be illegal, it must make the activity unlawful itself. It cannot compel states to do so,” said New Jersey in its filing.
Moreover, the state claimed that under the Constitution, “if Congress wishes for sports wagering to be illegal, it must make the activity unlawful itself. It cannot compel States to do so. The decision of the court of appeals should be reversed.”
Earlier this month Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr introduced a vill to regulate national operations that would include tribal companies as potential bidders and not interfere with the ndian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) nor affect the current gaming agreements between the administrations and the tribal operators.
