The US Supreme Court announced this Monday that it would not consider Governor Chris Christie bid to bring legalised sports betting to the state of New Jersey.
In a written order, the Supreme Court stated that it had declined to review the appeal submitted by Christie. Christie had asked the Court to review federal policy that denies betting on sports contests due to a 1992 federal law that bars most states from licensing such wagers. Christie had further argued that the federal law was unconstitutional, a claim that would later be rejected by the appeals court.
In 2011 New Jersey voters passed a referendum to allow sports betting on licensed properties, state lawmakers supported the potential legislation by permitting Atlantic City casinos and state race tracks to allow sports wagering on several professional sports, lawmakers did not permit wagering on College/University or amateur level sports.
The USA’s four major sports leagues, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association sued to block New Jersey’s law saying state-sponsored gambling threatened the integrity of their games.
Governor Christie had argued in his appeal that Federal laws intruded with his representative states sovereignty and intervened with New Jersey being able to secure new revenue channels.
The Supreme Court issued a statement that New Jersey’s appeal was meritless and unworthy of a review. Furthermore it stated that Governor Christie couldn’t complain about discriminatory treatment because the 1992 law gave New Jersey a one-year time window to allow legalised sports betting, an opportunity New Jersey had declined at the time.