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| Staff Writer |
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Claims brought in a Texas federal court to stop the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act from going forward were dismissed on March 31 by U. S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.
The lawsuit, filed by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and joined by affiliated HBPAs, sought to have the court enjoin enforcement of the Act as unconstitutional. The HBPAs argued that HISA gave unlawful regulatory power to a private entity it created, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
After finding the HBPAs have standing to bring the case and that an actual controversy exists, Hendrix also found there is no disagreement about the material facts, leading the way to a decision based on the application of law.
Hendrix ruled that HISA meets what he describes as current low thresholds in private delegation cases created by the U. S. Supreme Court and the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, of which Texas is a part. When all was said and done, he wrote HISA is not an unconstitutional private delegation of power in violation of Article I of the Constitution or the Due Process Clause.