In a dramatic 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided Monday, May 14 that Congress has no constitutional authority to prevent individual states from authorizing sports betting.
The SCOTUS finally handed down its opinion this morning on New Jersey’s challenge of the professional and amateur sports protection act (PASPA) of 1992, the federal law that had made it illegal to bet on sports in all states but Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and Delaware, who were all grandfathered in.
Lawyers for New Jersey had petitioned the Supreme Court to review PASPA’s constitutionality after lower courts repeatedly ruled that the Garden State didn’t possess the power to repeal the federal law’s regulations. In that 6-3 ruling, the majority of justices felt Congress was overstepping its authority in telling 46 states what it could not do, while allowing four others to engage in sports betting.
The SCOTUS finally handed down its opinion this morning on New Jersey’s challenge of the professional and amateur sports protection act (PASPA) of 1992, the federal law that had made it illegal to bet on sports in all states but Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and Delaware, who were all grandfathered in.
Lawyers for New Jersey had petitioned the Supreme Court to review PASPA’s constitutionality after lower courts repeatedly ruled that the Garden State didn’t possess the power to repeal the federal law’s regulations. In that 6-3 ruling, the majority of justices felt Congress was overstepping its authority in telling 46 states what it could not do, while allowing four others to engage in sports betting.