Lawsuit to Legalize Sports Betting
A New Jersey state legislator, three horsemen's associations, and the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), an Internet gambling trade association, have filed a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court challenging the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act ("PASPA"), 28 U.S.C. §3701, et seq. Adopted in 1992, PASPA bans betting on sporting events except in states where such betting was legal when the law was approved or where sports betting was approved within a year of that date. Only four states—Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana—qualify for this exemption.
In iMEGA v. Holder, No. 09cv01301-GEB-TJB (D.N.J.), the plaintiffs argue that PASPA violates the Constitution in a variety of ways, including:
- Restraining interstate trade, contrary to the Commerce Clause, by banning sports betting in 46 states;
- Defying the Equal Protection Clause by treating those 46 states differently from the four states that can offer sports betting;
- Imposing its ban in unconstitutionally vague and overbroad terms, contrary to requirements of due process;
The suit also includes a grab-bag of constitutional theories, such as the rarely-invoked Tenth Amendment, which reserves residual rights to the states and the people, the Eleventh Amendment, which protects the sovereign immunity of the states, and a claim that the law inhibits the free-speech rights of the legislator, State Sen. Raymond Lesniak.
In a separate lawsuit, iMEGA also has challenged the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The case will be argued before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia later this month.
