New Jersey is asking the U.S. Justice Department to confirm that online gambling is allowed under federal law, an issue officials thought was settled until the agency reversed course under Donald Trump.
After Justice in 2011 ruled during Barack Obama’s administration that the federal Wire Act did not ban gambling over the internet, New Jersey was one of three states to legalize it. When the coronavirus shut down New Jersey’s casinos for months last year, online gambling and sports betting allowed New Jersey to weather the pandemic better than other states.
But under Trump, the department changed its position and decided in January 2019 that the federal Wire Act did, indeed, prohibit such betting.
New Jersey and 26 other states have asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to rescind the Trump administration decision and go to back to the agency’s original interpretation of the Wire Act. Garland was nominated by President Joe Biden, who was vice president when Justice first issued its opinion more than a decade ago.
