Christie Looks to Sports Gambling for a Rare Second-Term Victory
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of New Jersey, it could invalidate Paspa entirely
and therefore allow every state to pass laws legalizing sports betting, or it could leave Paspa intact but rule that New Jersey’s law does not violate it.
Christie is coming to Washington for oral arguments before the Supreme Court in a case
that could legalize sports betting in New Jersey, and the governor made clear last week that the stakes give this trip special, personal meaning.
The New Jersey legislature tried a new tactic in 2014, passing a law
that partially repealed prohibitions on sports betting, believing that Paspa only prohibited the affirmative legalization of sports betting.
“It’s a very, very important case with respect to the division of authority in our system of government, between the federal government
and state sovereign governments,” said Ted Olson, the attorney who will represent New Jersey in court on Monday.
The law grandfathered in four states that already had allowed sports gambling
and created an exception for New Jersey, which was allowed one year after Paspa went into effect to set up a sports betting system.
Yet in 2011, New Jersey residents voted to amend the state constitution
and allow the legislature to legalize sports betting, and it did so the next year.