Sports Betting's Return Won't Permanently Harm Florida, DOI Tells Supreme Court
A reaction was filed by the Department of the Interior on Wednesday to a current demand by two gaming business to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay an appeals judgment released previously this year concerning Florida sports betting.
The choice by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in June essentially renewed a gaming agreement between the state of Florida and its Seminole Tribe. That compact granted the Seminole exclusivity over retail and online sports websites in the state, but it was tossed out in late 2021, triggering a shutdown of the tribe's Hard Rock Bet sportsbook in Florida.
U.S. Department of Interior informs Supreme Court there's no need to remain a lower judgment that could bring legal sports betting back to Florida through Hard Rock Bet. Two video gaming business want that stay, but DOI argues, amongst other things, no irreversible economic damage will be done. pic.twitter.com/B7ylDWlgip
However, the appeals court judgment teed up a possible return of Acid rock to Florida. Then came further legal wrangling in the appeals court, followed by the recent demand to the Supreme Court to stay the choice while the video gaming companies petitioned for a full evaluation of the case.
U.S. Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts ordered last Thursday that the appeal court's required be remembered and remained pending any further order from the top judges. The Supreme Court offered the DOI till this Wednesday to react to the application for a stay.
Playing the classics
The action submitted by the DOI hits many of the exact same notes played in the lower courts, namely, that the Florida compact follows federal gaming law and the DOI was within its rights to authorize the contract. A federal judge disagreed with this in 2021 over the compact's online sports wagering arrangements, sparking the continuous appeals process.
"Each of those contentions lacks benefit, and none presents a dispute with any choice of this Court or another court of appeals," the DOI respond on Wednesday states. "The Court for that reason is not fairly likely to give certiorari [review], and there is no fair possibility that the Court would reverse the court of appeals' judgment if it did grant evaluation."
The federal government likewise claims the video gaming business are failing to show they will suffer "permanent harm" that would prompt the Supreme Court's intervention, another reason that a stay is unnecessary. While West Flagler Associates Ltd. and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. claim the appeal-court choice will trigger a "significant shift" in public law and damage citizens, the feds say those fears are misplaced.
"Florida's Legislature-- presumably acting in its citizens' best interests and reflecting its own understanding of the Florida constitution-- enacted a statute in 2021 particularly authorizing the internet sports betting resolved in the Compact," the DOI reply states. "Florida's Governor, likewise probably acting on behalf of the State's citizenry, got in into the Compact on behalf of the State, representing for the State that the video gaming activities discussed therein 'comply in all respects with the Florida Constitution.'"
The DOI and the gaming companies will now wait on the Supreme Court's next order.