The post originally appears on http://www.gamblingandthelaw.com/ and we republished with permission.

“Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” Otto von Bismarck

On December 4, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the New Jersey sports betting case. Almost every Justice was actively involved in the questioning, which touched upon everything from obscure statutory interpretation to the importance of states not controlled by the federal government.

The case revolves around a statute, the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which is unlike any other act of Congress passed before or since. Worse, New Jersey’s attempt to get around PASPA involved its State Legislature passing a law that no other state had ever even considered.