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US Supreme Court ruling on gambling

Posted By: ah_clem
Date: Tuesday, 15 May 2018, at 2:05 p.m.

In Response To: US Supreme Court ruling on gambling (Ray Kershaw)

IANAL, but I do read their blog posts from time to time. Here's Ilya Somin:

Murphy [v NCAA, the case just decided] is also significant for state policies legalizing, under state law, other activities that the federal government may oppose, including marijuana, possession of some types of firearms, and others. The federal government can no longer block such legalization by passing laws that require states to continue to bar these activities under their own laws. In many cases, the federal government can still ban various activities by making them directly illegal under federal law. But if it cannot rely on the backing of the states and their own laws, enforcing such federal prohibitions in dissenting states can be expensive and difficult. In practice, federal prohibition of gambling, drugs and other activities relies heavily on state cooperation and support. Today's decision reinforces the constitutional rule that empowers states to deny such assistance. http://reason.com/volokh/2018/05/14/sports-gambling-decision-is-a-major-vict

So, I think the answer is a qualified "yes". Gambling is legal under federal law (although interstate gambling is restricted), so it's up to the states to make it illegal. This ruling basically says that the Federal government can't pass a law requiring states to pass or retain anti-gambling laws. That said, I'm not seeing anything in the ruling that prohibits the feds from making funding contingent on passing certain laws at the state level, e.g. the method used to implement a nation-wide 21 years old drinking age. So, there are other ways that the fed could effectively if not explicitly make betting on backgammon illegal.

The thing is, to my knowledge there's nothing similar to the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) that applies to backgammon betting. So the effect is probably quite small.

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