Contrary to what some might say about this effort, we're not looking to get into anything to lose. It would not be worth the time and investment if there were not a good chance of prevailing.

This comes down to a 10th Amendment argument. The Federal government only wields powers expressly granted to it by the states. States have never granted the power to regulate gambling to the Federal government. When PASPA (the law in question) was being debated back in 1991, the Department of Justice, under the first President Bush, opposed the law, because it declared that the law was probably unconstitutional because it violates the 10th Amendment. The US Attorney-General's office even went so far as to send a letter stating this opposition for constitutional reasons to then-Senator Joe Biden, who was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time.

Though the US Congress passed the law, it never did anything to address the constitutional questions. As a result, we feel that there is an excellent chance for having the law overturned.

Joe@iMEGA

I agree that the 10th amendment should make the PASPA law unconstitutional, but the feds have a good record of circumventing it with the "interstate commerce" clause.

I am not a lawyer, but I think a good backup argument would be the 14th amendment which guarantees equal protection (right to bet?) under law for all citizens.

how intensely ironic