New Jersey launches latest plan to legalize sports betting
 But bill A4303 could create âwild westâ market by repealing all prohibitions on betting in the state
New Jersey lawmakers have introduced yet another bill to allow sports betting in the state, this time via a proposal to fully repeal the stateâs prohibition on sports wagering.
The new proposed legislation, A4303, would repeal all criminal prohibitions on sports betting throughout the Garden State, which could help the bill stand up to a legal challenge.
New Jerseyâs last such effort was to repeal criminal prohibitions on sports betting solely to the extent they applied to casinos and racetracks.
That law was struck down in the courts as violating PASPA and is being currently challenged in the Supreme Court.
However, the Third Circuit said in its opinion on that case that the new approach could be permissible. Judge Fuentes wrote in his dissent that New Jersey could pass a complete repeal and then add “later enacted limited restrictions” without violating PASPA.
However some experts have warned the complete decriminalization might also create a âwild westâ environment, with unlicensed betting throughout the state.
âIt remains to be seen whether the legislature will embrace this rather significant policy shift when it comes to gambling, which has traditionally been tightly regulated by the state,â New Jersey sport lawyer Christopher Soriano told EGR.
The bill was introduced by New Jersey Assemblymen Ralph Caputo and John Burzichell, who also told NJ Law Journal it was âunlikely to move quicklyâ.
But combined with the New Jersey Supreme Court appeal on its old law, and Congressman Frank Palloneâs effort to get things moving on a federal level, A4303 marks another avenue towards legal sports betting in the US.