New Jersey officials say the U.S. Supreme Court should strike down a ban on sports betting in all but four states because it wrongly forces states to enforce a regulation that Congress wants.
The high court will hear New Jersey’s argument this fall that the ban is not legal because it exceeds the authority of Congress. The state has been trying for nearly a decade to legalize sports betting and grab a share of the estimated $150 billion that is bet illegally on sports each year.
After being rebuffed in its efforts to regulate legal sports betting, New Jersey tried a different tactic: repealing its regulations regarding sports betting, leaving no law in place at all.
The question to be decided by the justices is this: Does a federal statute that prohibits modification or repeal of state-law prohibitions on private conduct impermissibly usurp the regulatory power of states?
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