Lawsuit in Wisconsin claims betting law unconstitutional

• Legal sports betting hit a major milestone in Wisconsin earlier this year after a law legalizing it was approved
• The law requires negotiation of gaming compacts between the state and tribes
• Newly filed lawsuit alleges the law is unconstitutional and may block legal online sports betting from launching statewide

Wisconsin legalized statewide online sports betting in April, making the state the latest one to initiate regulating the activity.

However, ahead of the launch of legal betting, a new lawsuit seeks to declare the law that legalized the activity unconstitutional.

Legal challenge filed on behalf of two taxpayer organizations

After Gov. Tony Evers approved a bipartisan proposal, Wisconsin Act 247, the state made a major step toward legal sports wagering.

Per the law, mobile sports wagering would be available to players across Wisconsin as long as the servers required for the activity are located on tribal lands and new gaming compacts are negotiated between the state and the 11 Native American Tribes in Wisconsin.

While negotiations with the tribes have already started, the nonprofit conservative law firm, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Wisconsin Act 247.

Representing The Brown County Taxpayers Association and Citizens Defending Liberty, two Wisconsin taxpayer organizations, the lawsuit seeks to declare the sports betting law unconstitutional.

In its lawsuit, WILL compared the law to "sports gambling monopoly," claiming that it violates the Wisconsin Constitution.

In 1993, voters approved an amendment to the state’s constitution that effectively prohibited the authorization of gambling across Wisconsin.

Exception of that prohibition applies to state lottery, raffles, bingo, as well as pari-mutuel betting.

WILL argued that mobile sports betting isn’t among the exceptions to the gambling prohibition, making the law unconstitutional.

"The lawsuit also challenges Governor Tony Evers’ plan to negotiate new tribal gaming agreements to implement the law, and argues that the law violates the Equal Protection Doctrine by granting a benefit based on race," WILL wrote in a press release.

Betting faces opposition in Wisconsin

Kirsten Atanasoff, WILL’s Associate Counsel, spoke about the latest legal action.

"Thirty-three years ago, Wisconsinites expressed through a constitutional amendment that the Legislature may not expand gambling in any form. Neither lawmakers nor Governor Evers are allowed to flout that constitutional limit," she explained.

Moreover, Atanasoff pointed out: "This lawsuit ensures that elected officials remain accountable to the people of Wisconsin by upholding the constitutional limits the people, themselves, called for."

The action against legal mobile sports betting in Wisconsin comes on the heels of a recent poll, which uncovered significant opposition against the activity.

The poll by Marquette University Law School uncovered that 64% of the residents in Wisconsin opposed the legalization of online sports betting.

It is yet to be seen whether or not the lawsuit will progress and if it will be able to temporarily halt the legalization or permanently block sports betting in Wisconsin.

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