Supreme Court

Is This the Supreme Court's Next Sports Betting Case?

Plus: SCOTUS allows Trump’s White House ballroom construction to proceed.

Damon Root | 9.1.2026 10:20 AM

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In Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court overruled a provision of federal law that had made it illegal for states to legalize sports gambling. "That provision unequivocally dictates what a state legislature may and may not do," the Court said. "It is as if federal officers were installed in state legislative chambers and were armed with the authority to stop legislators from voting on any offending proposals. A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine." Widespread state legalization (and regulation) of sports betting quickly followed from that decision.

Another big sports betting case is now likely headed for the Supreme Court. And once again, a duel over state vs. federal control is at its heart.

You’re reading Injustice System from Damon Root and Reason. Get more of Damon’s commentary on constitutional law and American history.

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