The reversal may not have immediate effects on what we do here at the Simon Law Group. Overtime however, you can be sure that in the future Monday's striking down of the federal law against sports betting will have huge repercussions in the garden state. While the Supreme Court of the United States struck the ban down it was New Jersey who fought long and hard to do so. Former Governor Chris Christie began this fight after the state voting overwhelmingly to approve legalized sports betting. After many years and much struggle, New Jersey with new Govenor Phil Murphy taking up the cause has found victory.
The 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which criminalized the betting on sports was deemed as being counter intuitive to the sovereignty of state rights in a 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court.
In his opinion Justice Anthony Scalia wrote, "Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own." PASPA only told states they weren't allowed to have sports gambling not that they were going to regulate it, which he writes is in violation of the 10th amendment.
For those who may have skipped that day in history class the 10th amendment states. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
There is a broad hope that the legalization of the sports gambling will cut into the illegal gambling that is estimated to be worth $150 billion a year. The states who have pushed the changes have also stated the potential tax revenue as a major upside of their support.
Opposing the Supreme Court decision is the sporting leagues themselves with all of the major ones being on the losing side of the decision. The MLB and the NBA want to put safeguards in place to protect the integrity of their games.
It's also important to realize that this sort of ruling about a state's sovereignty can have overarching effects on the issues of assisted suicide and marijuana legalization.
As stated in the beginning the revoking of PASPA is not directly going to change how we at the Simon Law Group are able to help you. However there will be repercussions felt throughout the state's judicial system.
If you are seeking representation for a criminal or civil matter call today for a free consultation 800-709-1131 or fill out a contact form on our website for a no-cost consultation.We hope to hear from you today!