Articles

Supreme Court places big bet on federalism

May 14, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, the Supreme Court released its long-awaited decision in Murphy v. NCAA, New Jersey’s constitutional challenge to a federal law that forbids the state from amending its own sports gambling laws. The opinion by Justice Alito did not disappoint. Here’s the key paragraph: The PASPA provision at issue here—prohibiting state a ...

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Supreme Court to hear constitutional challenge to federal sports betting ban

June 27, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, the Supreme Court decided to review New Jersey’s constitutional challenge to a federal law that purports to forbid almost every state—except, notably, Nevada—from legalizing sports gambling. PLF, joined by Cato and CEI, filed an amicus brief supporting cert. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which i ...

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Can the federal government make a city pass a leash law? [Updated]

February 02, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The obvious answer must be no, right? Setting aside the absurdity of a town’s leash law being a federal issue, the Constitution forbids the federal government from commandeering state and local governments. In New York v. United States and Printz v. United States, the Supreme Court explained that this anti-commandeering principle forbids the ...