N.J. spars in court with pro leagues to get sports betting legalized
Lawyers for professional sports leagues and the State of New Jersey clashed in oral arguments Wednesday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a case that could decide the fate of a years-long effort by New Jersey to institute sports betting.
Lawyers for professional sports leagues and the State of New Jersey clashed in oral arguments Wednesday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a case that could decide the fate of a years-long effort by New Jersey to institute sports betting.
The case features two of the nation's top legal guns, Paul Clement, who represented the sports leagues, and Theodore Olson, who argued on behalf of New Jersey. Both served at different times as U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush.
A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit rejected the New Jersey initiative in August, concluding that it was a transparent effort to get around federal law limiting sports betting to Nevada and a handful of other states.
New Jersey appealed that decision and the full court reheard the case Wednesday.
"We're on what, the fourth or fifth iteration of New Jersey trying to do it [sports betting]?" asked a skeptical-sounding judge, Kent Jordan.
He and 10 other judges peppered lawyers for both sides with questions during the 90-minute hearing.
New Jersey voters amended the state constitution in 2011 to permit sports betting at struggling casinos and racetracks while barring wagers on New Jersey college teams or any collegiate event occurring in the state.
The NCAA, the NBA, the NFL, and others sued to prevent implementation, and the Third Circuit invalidated the law in 2012, the first time it ruled on the issue.
New Jersey lawmakers then amended the law to, they said, conform with the decision while permitting sports betting at casinos and racetracks.
The hearing Wednesday centered on New Jersey's attempt to get around the federal ban. After voters authorized sports betting in 2011, the Legislature passed laws establishing a detailed regulatory apparatus and limiting sports betting to casinos and racetracks. New Jersey officials declared they had the right to move forward with the sports-betting plan because the federal ban was unconstitutional.
When the Third Circuit overturned that law in 2012, New Jersey officials responded by repealing regulations governing sports betting at racetracks and casinos.
The state's position was that the repeal deregulated sports betting, effectively permitting sports gambling to go forward, and that under the Constitution, the federal government could not stand in the way.
"Congress does not have the authority to require states to regulate," Olson declared during oral arguments.
But that isn't what happened in New Jersey, Clement countered.
Federal law, Clement said, "simply tells states they cannot authorize sports gambling. This [the New Jersey statute] is the kind of law that clearly authorizes sports gambling."
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