NJ GOVERNOR CAN JOIN iMEGA ACTION SAYS JUDGE
(Update)
6 November 2009
U.S. Department of Justice loses this round
Over the objections of the US Department of Justice, a
Federal judge has ruled that New Jersey Governor 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 Governor Gorzine’s motion to intervene in iMEGA, et
al v. Holder was granted, and that his attorneys must
file their complaint no later than November 12th.
Governor Corzine joins a plaintiff roll that
includes iMEGA, Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), and NJ
state horse racing associations (see previous InfoPowa
reports).
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 favours certain states by allowing them to
reap tax revenue from legal sports betting, while
barring every other state from doing so. New Jersey
could raise substantial tax revenues if successful in
overturning the restrictive law.
“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.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
Top of page |
Home |
News |
Forum |
Webcast |
Vortran |
Accredited Casinos |
Evil Ones |
Pitch a Bitch |
Online Gambling Resources |
Poker
|
