A new lawsuit is challenging the Wisconsin law that will allow for mobile sports wagering to be legal across the state.
The Brown County Taxpayers Association and Citizens Defending Liberty sued stating that the law is unconstitutional because of Wisconsin’s ban on the Legislature “authoring gambling in any form” and stating that Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to negotiate tribal gaming pacts violates the Equal Protection Doctrine by allowing for this benefit based upon race.
The lawsuit was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
“Thirty-three years ago, Wisconsinites expressed through a constitutional amendment that the Legislature may not expand gambling in any form,” WILL Associate Counsel Kirsten Atanasoff said in a statement. “Neither lawmakers nor Governor Evers are allowed to flout that constitutional limit. This lawsuit ensures that elected officials remain accountable to the people of Wisconsin by upholding the constitutional limits the people, themselves, called for.”
The lawsuit was filed in circuit court in Waukesha County.
“Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is a radical, right-wing entity that is actively working to undermine the sovereignty of the Tribal Nations in Wisconsin, and @GovEvers will fight that effort every step of the way,” Evers Communications Director Britt Cudaback wrote on social media.
WILL questioned the legality of the law while it was being discussed, including issuing a memo to lawmakers on its belief that the law would violate Wisconsin’s constitution.
Lawmakers, however, claimed that the bill did not authorize wagering but instead expanded what the tribes are already allowed to do by having servers on tribal lands to operate the mobile sports wagering.
At the time, WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber told The Center Square that the cleaner way to avoid legal challenges would be to create a new constitutional amendment to allow for sports wagering. But that would have to pass two different Legislatures and then go to a statewide vote.
Wisconsin gaming compacts negotiated in 1991 and 1992 by Gov. Tommy Thompson were previously challenged but allowed to state because they were signed before a state constitutional amendment that banned most gaming in 1993.
