The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a federal law that prohibited most states from legalizing sports betting. The Court ruled that the federal law infringed on the powers granted to the States under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 10th Amendment basically gives the States the authority to regulate certain types of activities that Congress is not authorized to regulate.
The decriminalizing of sports gambling, which had been legal only in four states but practiced mainly in Nevada, leads to some interesting questions: When a criminal activity is made legal, is there an increase or a decrease in that activity? Will the decriminalization of sports betting lead to the decriminalization of other so-called “victimless” offenses such as marijuana consumption and prostitution?
The first issue is interesting because both Congress and the state legislatures assume that criminal laws deter law-abiding citizens from engaging in activities that are illegal, even if they are victimless crimes. There will certainly be an increase in sports wagering as it is estimated that some 35 states will quickly legalize sports betting. But how much of an increase will we see? If there is only a 10-20% increase, would it mean that most of the folks who were interested in sports betting ignored the law and found illegal ways to gamble, whether online or otherwise?
Given our society’s obsession with sports and with the need to make each game more meaningful, one would expect a huge increase in sports gambling and a new source of revenue for the states that legalize it. That would mean that the law prohibiting sports gambling had a profound effect on those who wished to gamble, deterring them from engaging in an activity only because it was illegal.
The second question is even more fascinating. Possession of marijuana is a federal crime. It is still enforced on occasion even though medicinal marijuana is legal in 25 states and recreational marijuana is legal in four states. This makes no sense, as laws are supposed to advise persons on what they can and cannot do.
With a conservative-leaning Supreme Court that tends to favor states’ rights over federal power when looking at the Constitution, it may only be a matter of time before the federal prohibitions against marijuana and other victimless activities are successfully challenged.