Federal Court Rejects New Jersey Bid to Legalize Sports Betting
A 12-judge U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled on Tuesday to reject New Jersey’s bid to allow legalized sports betting in the Garden State.
The panel voted 10 to 2 to uphold a ruling from the same court that declared the state’s amended law in 2014 was a “de facto authorization” of sports betting at those sites even though that law stated that the state would not be involved in regulating the gambling. Federal law prohibits the state from regulating it.
The court found that while it will not specifically define what sort of steps the state could have taken on a change in gambling regulations, “It is sufficient to conclude that the 2014 law overstepped [the line].”
The decision comes at a time when Commissioner Adam Silver has stepped forward to offer support for federal oversight that could eventually allow all 50 states to offer sports betting.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
