Articles

New Jersey places a bet on the Constitution

November 15, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

States are not puppets of the federal government, to be manipulated to accomplish whatever policy the federal government might prefer. If they were, both individual liberty and political accountability would be compromised. That’s why our Constitution forbids the feds from requiring states to govern according to federal instructions. That ven ...

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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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New Jersey goes all in on the Constitution in sports betting case

August 31, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Can Congress dictate to states what their own laws must be? Anyone familiar with federalism will likely immediately say “no.” Our Founders drafted a Constitution that preserved the independence of the the states, believing that dividing power between the federal government and the states would be a bulwark to protect our liberty. To pre ...

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New paper highlights importance of New Jersey sports gambling case

October 18, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Michelle Minton has a new paper highlighting the importance of the Supreme Court ruling the right way in New Jersey’s challenge to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. As Michelle explains, and PLF, CEI, Cato, and WILL explained in our amicus brief in the case, PASPA has been a failu ...

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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 ...