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

Should betting on sports, or any other form of gambling, be legal?

The first question is: Who decides?

Until a few decades ago, no one would have thought the decision-maker was the federal government. In fact, for the first 150 years of American history, Congress had almost no role in matters that affected people’s daily lives. It was entirely up to the states to decide not only whether gambling should be a crime, but whether anything should be a crime.