What was the most effective decision of the Supreme Court in the last five years?

Over the past few years, I have watched with some trepidation the explosion of legalized gambling in the United States. Casinos have sprung up in places that previously did not allow gambling And online sports gambling has expanded, plugging a betting app into nearly every commercial break during the Super Bowl. Much of this change can be traced back to a single Supreme Court decision: Murphy v. NCAA (2018). At the time, I thought this federalism case wasn’t a tough call: Congress couldn’t prohibit a state from legalizing sports betting. The vote was 7-2. Justice Ginsburg dissented on fairly narrow grounds regarding secession. The results, however, extend beyond the Garden State.

Charles Lane’s column The Washington Post Summary of my thoughts:

When historians assess the Supreme Court’s impact on America in the early 21st century, they will no doubt focus on the 2015 decision to legalize or overturn same-sex marriage. Roe v. Wade Last year.

Sunday’s Super Bowl reminds us, however, of what may be the most underrated Supreme Court decision of the past decade Murphy v.National Collegiate Athletic Association. In that 2018 ruling, the justices declared unconstitutional a 1992 federal law that prevented 46 states from repealing their then-existing bans on sports betting.

Now, 36 states and DC allow betting on the NFL, MLB, NBA — you name it. Leagues that once shunned betting as a threat to their integrity happily accepted legal sports books as official “partners.”

Whether you bet or not, companies like FanDuel and DraftKings are not immune to advertising With astonishing speed, a language once understood only by Las Vegas pros—”parlay,” “over-under”—has moved into the mainstream.

This year’s Super Bowl was the first played in a state — Arizona — with legal sports gambling According to the Wall Street Journal, a service that tracks the location of online sports betting transactions found that 100,000 of the 100 million “pings” the sports betting app traced nationwide Sunday came from or near State Farm Stadium. It’s not yet known how many people bet on the contest through legal sportsbooks, but the industry’s trade association estimates $1 billion. . . .

Gambling is known as addiction because it is so addictive. While the integrity of the sport was the primary concern of the 1992 legislation, gambling addiction was also a potential harm against which the measure, sponsored by Sen. Bill Bradley (DN.J.), a former NBA star, sought to protect.

A few months ago, I was on a flight to Las Vegas to speak at UNLV. The man sitting next to me worked for the marketing department of a large casino conglomerate. He made no attempt to hide what was on his screen and I had the opportunity to read his presentation. (Never do anything on a plane unless you want other people to see it.) The casino was trying to calculate the exact level of “lure” needed to keep a person hooked on the app. In other words, how many free “credits” a person gets before becoming a “loyal” member. I’m sure similar conversations were held at tobacco companies back in the day. At least in the past, people had to make a physical trip to a casino. Now, highly addictive apps can hook a person and empty his bank account anywhere. Life will be destroyed with a few swipes.

I think its social impact Murphy The effect will be dwarfed Dobbs And the bridge. Without question the number of abortions is down, but not as much as some advocates had feared. And, on balance, I suspect gun laws nationwide won’t look much different in 5 years than they do now. but Murphy, a single decision led to a complete change in the American economy. Don’t tell Justice Gorsuch, but Indian tribes, who have come to rely on exclusive gaming privileges, may be hit the hardest. Also, throw in Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence NCAA vs. Alston, and college athletics overturned by name-image-like deals. It is often the decisions that fly under the radar that are most rewarding.