A reaction was submitted by the Department of the Interior on Wednesday to a current request by 2 video gaming companies to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay an appeals judgment launched earlier this year concerning Florida sports wagering.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in June essentially restored a gaming arrangement between the state of Florida and its Seminole Tribe. That compact granted the Seminole exclusivity over retail and online sports betting sites in the state, however it was tossed out in late 2021, prompting a shutdown of the people's Hard Rock Bet sportsbook in Florida.
U.S. Department of Interior tells Supreme Court there's no need to remain a lower judgment that might bring legal sports betting back to Florida through Acid Rock Bet. Two gaming companies want that stay, however DOI argues, to name a few things, no long-term financial damage will be done. pic.twitter.com/B7ylDWlgip
However, the appeals court ruling teed up a possible return of Hard Rock to Florida. Then came more legal wrangling in the appeals court, followed by the current request to the Supreme Court to remain the choice while the gaming business petitioned for a full evaluation of the case.
U.S. Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts purchased last Thursday that the appeal court's mandate be remembered and remained pending any more order from the top judges. The Supreme Court provided the DOI till this Wednesday to react to the application for a stay.
Playing the classics
The reaction filed by the DOI strikes a number of the exact same notes played in the lower courts, specifically, that the Florida compact follows federal video 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 betting arrangements, stimulating the ongoing appeals procedure.
"Each of those contentions does not have benefit, and none provides a conflict with any decision of this Court or another court of appeals," the DOI reply on Wednesday states. "The Court for that reason is not reasonably most likely to approve certiorari [evaluation], and there is no fair possibility that the Court would reverse the court of appeals' judgment if it did grant evaluation."
The federal government also declares the video gaming business are stopping working to reveal they will suffer "irreversible harm" that would trigger the Supreme Court's intervention, another reason that a stay is unneeded. While West Flagler Associates Ltd. and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp. claim the appeal-court decision will trigger a "significant shift" in public law and harm citizens, the feds state those worries are lost.
"Florida's Legislature-- probably acting in its residents' finest interests and reflecting its own understanding of the Florida constitution-- enacted a statute in 2021 particularly authorizing the web sports betting dealt with in the Compact," the DOI reply states. "Florida's Governor, also most likely acting on behalf of the State's citizenry, entered into the Compact on behalf of the State, representing for the State that the video gaming activities talked about therein 'comply in all aspects with the Florida Constitution.'"
The DOI and the gaming business will now await the Supreme Court's next order.
