Category: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

HBPA Groups Again Appeal HISA Ruling to Fifth Circuit

louisianathoroughbred

Appeal follows denial of HBPA’s constitutional claims, injunction motion.

 

For the second time the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider the constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act after a federal judge shot down efforts by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, as well as state and local HBPA affiliates, to derail the legislation.

On May 17 the HBPAs filed a notice of appeal after multiple rulings adverse to its legal efforts issued by federal judge James W. Hendrix in United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The case first came before Hendrix last year. He decided HISA was constitutional, but a Fifth Circuit panel reversed the ruling and declared HISA facially unconstitutional for failing to grant sufficient power to the Federal Trade Commission to oversee the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. The authority is a private corporation formed to regulate the horse racing industry for compliance with nationwide safety and medication rules.

 

Read BloodHorse Article

Sam Houston Race Park Puts Simulcasting On Hold

louisianathoroughbred

The Houston track steps back from announcement to resume simulcasting Feb. 3.

 

On the day Sam Houston Race Park intended to resume interstate simulcasting, the Houston racetrack took a step back and has put that plan on hold citing the need for a legal review of the “many complexities” surrounding recent court action and law amendments by Congress related to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

“We have determined more time is needed to fully evaluate the many legal complexities surrounding recent court decisions and the HISA amendment enacted by Congress at the end of last year,” said a statement released by Sam Houston Feb. 3.

The decision to resume simulcasting followed a Jan. 31 ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that denied a request by HISA and the Federal Trade Commission to reverse a decision that the HISA is facially unconstitutional. The appellate court had Nov. 18 reversed a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that had upheld the constitutionality of the HISA after it was challenged by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, multiple state HBPA affiliates, the State of Texas, and the Texas Horse Racing Commission. Since the initial Fifth Circuit ruling, Congress amended the language of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act to include “clarifying language” that shores up the FTC’s oversight of HISA.

 

Read BloodHorse Article

Texas Once Again Allows Simulcasting Signal Exports

louisianathoroughbred

By Daniel Ross

On the back of Tuesday’s decision in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denying a motion by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority for that court to vacate its recent opinion that the law is unconstitutional, the Texas Racing Commission (TXRC) has reopened the door for Texas tracks to beam their signals out-of-state, with Sam Houston set to begin this Friday.

Last year, the TXRC argued that it was statutorily barred from joining HISA, and because the enabling federal legislation gave the HISA Authority regulatory jurisdiction over the interstate simulcasting of races, the commission prohibited Texan tracks from exporting their signals.

 

Read TDN Article

Fifth Circuit Judges Deny Motions Related to Rewritten HISA Law

louisianathoroughbred

by Sue Finley and T. D. Thornton

 

The Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied a motion by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority for that court to vacate its recent opinion that HISA is unconstitutional.

Back on Jan. 3, the HISA Authority had asked for the Fifth Circuit’s Nov. 18, 2022, anti-constitutionality order to be vacated based on a federal rewrite of the HISA law in December.

Also on Tuesday, separate motions for a rehearing of the case made by both the HISA Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) were shot down by the same Fifth Circuit panel of judges.

 

Read TDN Article

With Law Changed, HISA Back in Court

louisianathoroughbred

Formal motion to set aside unconstitutionality ruling to be filed Jan. 3.

 

An attorney for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority this week asked a federal appeals court panel to set aside its ruling declaring the entity’s underlying legislation facially unconstitutional, citing a recent amendment to the law.

A letter signed by Pratik A. Shah Dec. 29 on behalf of HISA formally notified the three-judge panel “that on December 23 Congress passed, and on December 29 President Biden signed into law an amendment” that gives the Federal Trade Commission more power to regulate the Authority.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, had declared the legislation facially unconstitutional for failing to give the FTC adequate oversight over the Authority, a private entity created by the legislation.

 

Read BloodHorse Article

Anti-HISA Ruling Could Be Delayed for Months

louisianathoroughbred

Fifth Circuit refuses to order accelerated issuance of mandate.

 

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which in November ruled the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act is unconstitutional, turned down a Dec. 15 request by the states and racing commissions of Louisiana and West Virginia to give the decision effect on Dec. 19. The upshot is enforcement of a lower court injunction against HISA could be delayed for months.

The two-line order denying the request was entered Dec. 16 by the same three Fifth Circuit judges who reversed a Texas federal district court ruling in favor of HISA. The lower court injunction against HISA was entered by a federal district court in Louisiana, which is also in the Fifth Circuit.

The Fifth Circuit’s anti-HISA decision cannot take effect unless and until a mandate issues. A publication of the American Bar Association says, “At its most basic, the mandate is the device by which an appellate court closes an appeal.”

 

Read BloodHorse Article

FTC Notifies Appeals Court of HISA Rule Change Proposal

louisianathoroughbred

By

 

The Federal Trade Commission notified the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans by a Sept. 2 letter that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has proposed two rule changes to meet objections raised by two states and others in a federal lawsuit.

The suit originated in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, which on July 26 issued a preliminary injunction curbing HISA’s power to enforce FTC safety rules in Louisiana and West Virginia and to all plaintiffs in the case. The ruling was not based on constitutional grounds.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Aug. 8 ordered that the district court injunction be stayed except for its application to three regulations while it considers an appeal of the injunction. Oral arguments on the merits of the case followed Aug. 30.

 

Read BloodHorse Article

HISA, FTC Seek Stay Of Federal Judge’s Injunction Blocking HISA In Louisiana, West Virginia

louisianathoroughbred

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission have each filed emergency motions seeking stays of a federal judge’s injunction effectively blocking the Authority from enforcing its regulations in the states of Louisiana and West Virginia.

The motions were filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.

The injunction, ordered July 26 by Judge Terry A. Doughty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, was in conjunction with a lawsuit filed against the FTC, HISA and its board members and CEO by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, their respective racing commissions, Jockeys’ Guild, Inc., Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association and five individuals.

 

Read Paulick Report Article

Stay of Adverse Ruling Denied, HISA Seeks Clarification

louisianathoroughbred

Federal District Judge Terry Doughty July 29 denied a motion filed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to stay enforcement of a preliminary injunction entered July 26 against HISA’s enforcement of its rules in Louisiana and West Virginia.

At the same time, HISA appealed the preliminary injunction to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The online record appears to direct the court clerk to certify the appeal record by Aug. 15.

HISA also filed a motion asking Doughty to clarify that the preliminary injunction applies to named plaintiffs only and not to all of plaintiffs’ members nationwide. The Jockeys’ Guild and Louisiana Horsemen Benevolent and Protective Association, who are among the plaintiffs, publicly took the latter position after the injunction was entered. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include only five individuals.

 

Read BloodHorse Article