The Supremes Make a Move on Florida Sports Betting & The Fallacy of a “Two-State Solution” - Top 3 Takeaways – October 27th, 2023
- One step closer. It’s Friday and as good of an excuse as any to break out a Lincoln Park reference in attempting to explain the latest developments with Sports Betting in Florida. Those who’ve been eagerly awaiting the potential, permanent, arrival of sports betting in Florida probably feel a lot like the late Chester Bennington did in the writing and singing of that song. Ever since the 2021 signing of the Seminole Compact by Governor DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe of Florida which enabled sports betting within the state it’s been like this... Lawsuit after lawsuit. Legal ruling after legal ruling. State courts, federal courts. Appeals processes. At some point, all these words, they make no sense to people and for most that already happened two years ago which is about how long it’s been since there was any sports betting that’s taken place on the short-lived Seminole Gaming Sports Betting app. With that said, there’s been a new development and the takeaway is that in fact sports betting in Florida is one step closer to being a permanent reality than it was previously. Like all of the other legal wranglings and rulings there’s a big ‘ole but attached to it that requires a little explaining. The news involves the lawsuit filed by parimutuels in federal court to attempt to stop the Seminole Compact, and specifically sports betting as outlined in that Compact. Recently, when a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Seminole Compact, the parimutuels appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court received the appeal, they placed a stay on the compact...meaning that the Seminole Tribe was once again unable to legally offer sports betting until they’d first considered the facts of the case. After having now considered those facts they’ve lifted the stay. That means that as of now the Seminole Tribe could once again crank up the app and offer sports betting at any time if they choose to. So why haven’t they? For the same reason they haven’t chosen to at various points when it’s been legal throughout this 2+ year legal cycle. There’s legally more to come. So, what happens now?
- One of two things. The Supreme Court could choose not to hear the case before the full court and let the lower court ruling stand – which if they did– it would mark the end of the legal battle in the federal courts and sports betting would be federally legal in Florida. The other option is for the Supreme Court to take up the case. If it’s the latter the soonest there would be resolution would be next June. So, what should you make of this news? If you’re an advocate of the Compact the news from a legal perspective here is mostly good. The decision to empower the Seminoles to legally turn on sports betting operations is obvious, but also the implications associated with lifting the stay. Whether a stay should stay or go speaks to a judge’s intent or current bias. Had they left the stay against sports betting in place it would have been an indication that the Supreme Court Justices were leaning towards striking the Compact down and the highest burden of proof would have fallen on the state and the Seminole Tribe to convince them differently. With the stay being lifted it, as already mentioned, opens the door to the possibility that they might decide not to hear the case marking the end of the saga in the federal courts. But even if the court takes up the case the highest burden of proof will fall on the parimutuels attempting to strike it down. In baseball a tie goes to the runner. Right now, sports betting is the runner, and the only question is if there’s conclusive evidence to overturn the initial ruling on the field. If there’s one Justice to watch in this case, it’s Kavanaugh. While he sided with lifting the stay, he was by far the most skeptical in doing so. Kavanaugh stated that if the gambling deal allowed betting outside of tribal lands (which is does through the app) than it’s a violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. He also said that the Compact raises serious equal protection issues – which wasn’t really even on anyone’s legal radar as being a critical area of concern. So, the saga’s not over yet but yes, sports betting is one step closer to potentially becoming a permanent reality...even if the answers aren’t so clear.
- The fallacy of a two-state solution. On Wednesday, during an ever-rare presser in which he fielded a grand total of only a few questions, President Biden, was asked about the Israel-Hamas war and what comes next. His answer: There’s no going back to the status quo as it stood on Oct. 6, that means Hamas can no longer terrorize Israel and use Palestinians as human shields... It also means, when this crisis is over there has to be a vision of what comes next, and, in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. That statement proves two things. First, that it is seemingly impossible for Joe Biden to ever articulate two consecutive intelligent sentences. Second, that Dementia Joe has evidently once again forgotten his history. As I mentioned in a Q&A in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ terror attacks... In 1948, under terms agreed to under the United Nations General Assembly, the lands that comprise modern day Israel and the current Palestinian territories were designated to create an Arab territory and a Jewish state. On May 15th of 1948, Israel was officially recognized by the United Nations as a state. The Palestinian territories were governed by two nearby Arab governments – Egypt and Jordan. That continued until June of 1967 when Israel’s influence expanded in the region including holding influence over what then became known as the occupied Palestinian territories. The Israeli occupation in disputed Palestinian territories continued until 1993 when the Israeli military withdrew from much of the territory and recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO through the Oslo Accord. At that point, the goal by many world leaders, including Israel’s government at the time, became a stated two-state solution. However, almost immediately, PLO leader Yasser Arafat supported terror operations against Israeli’s. As a result, Palestine was not officially recognized as a state by the United Nations and the region continued to be viewed through the prism of territories by the west. And what political movement supplanted the terror sponsoring PLO as the leaders of the Palestinian territories? The even more radical terrorist organization Hamas – which was overwhelming voted into power by the Palestinian people in 2006 and which is still supported by at least 75% of the Palestinian people. So, let’s say for minute that Israel does eliminate Hamas which is a gigantic “if”. The Palestinian territories would go back under the rule of the slightly less terroristic governance of the PLO led by Mahmoud Abbas. And with three-quarters of the Palestinian population supportive of sharia law, which means no Jews, well back to you Mr. President. The only way there can be a two-state solution is if the Palestinian territories are replaced with non-Palestinian people. It’s kind of hard to have “two states” together when one’s bent on killing the people in the other one. And yes, this is still about Islam – which is the root issue here.