ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey is swinging for the
fences in a long-shot effort to overturn a federal ban on sports
betting in all but four states, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare
the ban unconstitutional.
With a federal appeals panel ruling
against the state, New Jersey is appealing to the nation’s highest court
to consider two legal questions: Does the Professional and Amateur
Sports Protection Act usurp state authority, in violation of the 10th
amendment? And does its granting permission to only four states to
conduct sports betting violate the principal of equal sovereignty?
The
panel ruled New Jersey law allowing sports betting conflicts with the
federal law, which limits sports betting to states that legalized it
before a 1991 deadline — Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon. At the
time, New Jersey was given the chance to become the fifth state but
failed to act during a prescribed window.
But New Jersey says in its appeal, filed Feb. 12, that the federal law is unconstitutional because it
treats states differently.
There
is no guarantee the Supreme Court will even agree to hear the appeal.
The state’s best chances may be the way the federal law is written.
No
federal law directly prohibits individuals from betting on sports, the
state argues. Rather, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act
makes it unlawful for a "governmental entity" to license or authorize
sports wagering activity.
"The ability of the states to convey a
‘label of legitimacy’ on private conduct lies at the heart of their
retained sovereignty," the state appeal says. "Congress may express its
own disapproval of sports wagering through direct regulation of the
activity, but, having declined to enact any such direct regulation, has
no authority to regulate the approval or disapproval expressed by the
states."
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a northern New Jersey
Democrat who has been pushing to legalize sports betting in the state,
has acknowledged the seemingly long odds but also says he likes the
state’s chances. He notes the Supreme Court has recently favored states’
rights.
"You can’t win it unless you’re in it," he said. "We’re in it, and we’re in it to win!
A spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie, who has strongly supported the legalization of sports betting,
declined comment Tuesday.
The state is suing the four major professional sports leagues, which support the existing ban.
Major
League Baseball, the National Football league, the National Basketball
Association and the National Hockey League, along with the National
Collegiate Athletic Association, say the perception of the games’
integrity might be compromised by state-sanctioned betting on them. The
U.S. Justice department joined the litigation on the side of the sports
leagues.
In a non-binding referendum in 2011, New Jerseyans said
they wanted to see legal sports betting in their state. Sports betting
proponents say it would help Atlantic City’s 11 casinos and the state’s
four racetracks — the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, Monmouth Park in
Oceanport, Freehold Raceway and Atlantic City Race Course in Mays
Landing.
They say legal sports betting also would provide a new
source of revenue from a huge pool of money that now flows untaxed to
unlicensed offshore Internet sites or to illegal bookmakers, many of
whom are allied with organized crime.
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Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
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