Fed Judge: NJ Governor can Join iMEGA Challenge to Sports Betting Law

Nov. 2, 2009 - Over the objections of the US Department of Justice, a Federal judge has ruled that New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is permitted to join a legal challenge to a Federal law prohibiting state-regulated sports betting.

US Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni ordered that Gov. Gorzine’s motion to intervene in iMEGA, et al v. Holder was granted, and that his attorneys must file their complaint no later than Nov. 12th. The lawsuit asks the court to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1991, which prohibits the expansion of state-regulated sports betting to all but four protected states - Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon. The plaintiffs have argued the law is unconstitutional because it favors certain states by allowing them to reap tax revenue from legal sports betting, while barring every other state from doing so.

“It’s nice to clear this hurdle and move closer to a court considering the merits of our challenge,” said Joe Brennan Jr., chairman of iMEGA, lead plaintiff in the suit. “It’s ridiculous the DOJ opposed the motion. We expect they’ll now ask the court to have all of the plaintiffs thrown out for lack of standing. It’s a waste of time and effort, but it seems they’ll do anything to prevent the court from examining this law.”

“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.

Links
US District Court of NJ: Order - iMEGA et al, v. Holder (PDF format)
US DOJ - Brief in Opposition to Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s Motion to Intervene (PDF format)
iMEGA, et al v. Holder - Federal PASPA Challenge (PDF format)