IMEGA Sports Betting Challenge Wins First Court Skirmish

The suit attempting to have the federal law against sports betting overturned received a boost as New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was permitted by a judge to join the plaintiffs.

A federal judge has upheld Governor Jon Corzine's right to be included in a court challenge to the legitimacy of a law outlawing sports betting in most of the US. The suit, undertaken by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, says the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is unconstitutional.

The law, enacted in 1992, makes gambling on sporting events illegal throughout the US, except in four states that already had had laws permitting sports betting. Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and Delaware are allowed under the law to institute sports wagering, although, as Delaware was dismayed to learn, the courts will only permit previously existing gaming forms to be reinstated.

New Jersey lawmakers and iMEGA say the nature of the law discriminates among states, allowing states like Nevada to reap tax revenues from activities like sports gambling forbidden to others.

US attorneys had sought to bar Corzine from joining the lawsuit, saying that he could not represent the state as its legal authority, but US Magistrate Judge Tonianne Bongiovanni said Corzine could file a complaint allowing him inclusion.

Joe Brennan, Jr., of iMEGA said his legal team is ready to try the case, and accuses the US Department of Justice with attempting stalling tactics to keep the case from being heard.

“The irony is that the DOJ actually opposed this law (PASPA) when it was enacted, on the very same grounds we’ve listed in our suit,” Brennan said on the iMEGA website.

Corzine is now a lame-duck governor, having lost a bid for re-election last week.