Bring it on, says New Jersey Governor

The announcement earlier this week that the US Department of Justice is to join the US national sports leagues in challenging New Jersey‘s bid to offer intrastate sports betting does not appear to have perturbed the Garden State’s governor at all.

Reacting to the news Wednesday, Governor Chris Christie said that he had not been taken by surprise by the intervention, and commented:

“If in fact we were attacking a federal statute – which is what we’re doing – we’re saying that the statute prohibiting us from offering sports gambling is unconstitutional; the Justice Department has an obligation to stand up for the constitutionality of laws that have been passed by Congress and signed by a President, which this law was.

“So I’m not the least bit surprised and, fine – they’ll get to submit a brief, too.”

The governor added that the issue will be decided in the courts, and that he remains positive on the outcome.

“Either we’re going to win or not, and I don’t think the Justice Department involvement is surprising,” he said.

Last year, Christie adopted a similarly defiant attitude as he signed the state sports betting bill into law, saying he was prepared to face litigation if necessary in the state’s attempt to challenge the federal 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which restricts sports betting to only four US states.

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