NJ.com – Gov. Chris Christie vowed today to take the New Jersey’s case to legalize sports betting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court after a three-member appellate panel dealt a setback to the state.
The federal appeals court in Philadelphia handed down a 2-1 ruling today that New Jersey could not implement sports betting because the state’s new law conflicts with a federal statute that bans it in all but four states: Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.
The state has the option of appealing the decision to the full Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, but Christie insisted he planned to take the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Yes, if the Supreme Court will take it,” he said at a campaign event in Paramus. “We’re definitely going to ask them to.”
Along with online gaming, the governor and New Jersey lawmakers are looking to sports betting to reinvigorate the state’s struggling gambling industry.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), the leading proponent in the Legislature for sports betting, said the fact that one judge ruled in New Jersey’s favor “gives us hope” that others will “allow New Jersey to enjoy the economic benefits of sports betting” that are now reserved exclusively for Nevada, Montana, Delaware and Oregon.
