WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Sports betting gets boost
TALLAHASSEE — Online sports betting in Florida could be back in play after the U.S. Supreme Court this week gave the go-ahead to an appeals court’s ruling that allowed a multi-billion dollar gaming deal to move forward.
The gambling agreement between the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida was inked in 2021, and included allowing the tribe to offer sports betting statewide. But the deal, known as a compact, faced legal challenges from Florida pari-mutuel companies.
In one of the cases, the the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia over the summer upheld a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to allow the compact to go ahead.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts earlier this month had granted the pari-mutuels’ request for a stay as the companies sought a review of the appeals court’s ruling. But on Wednesday, justices lifted the temporary hold.
Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole Tribe, heralded the Supreme Court’s move.
“The denial of the stay by the U.S. Supreme Court is very good news. The Seminole Tribe of Florida is heartened by this decision,” Bitner said.
The pari-mutuels’ lawsuit centered on an argument by the companies that the gambling deal violated the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA, because it authorized gambling off tribal lands. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in November 2021 agreed with the companies, but the appeals court this summer overturned her decision.
Bob Jarvis, a professor at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, said Wednesday’s decision signaled the Supreme Court would not take up a challenge to the appeals-court ruling.
“There is no reason for the Supreme Court to take this case up, and they will not take this case,” Jarvis told The News Service of Florida.
Jarvis, however, said Wednesday’s decision doesn’t mean gamblers will be able to place sports bets in Florida soon. The Seminoles are trying to fend off the separate challenge to the compact at the Florida Supreme Court, which hasn’t decided whether it will consider the case or refer it to a lower court.
While the compact addresses a series of issues, the lawsuit has centered on part of the deal that would allow gamblers to place mobile sports wagers anywhere in the state, with bets handled by computer servers on tribal property. The deal said bets “using a mobile app or other electronic device, shall be deemed to be exclusively conducted by the tribe.”
The pari-mutuel companies, West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., also have filed a lawsuit at the state Supreme Court, arguing that the sports-betting plan violates a 2018 state constitutional amendment that required voter approval of casino gambling. That case remains pending.
MOODY SUES META
Florida’s attorney general is trying to protect Sunshine State kids from excessive screen-time, alleging in a lawsuit filed this week that the parent company behind some of the world’s most popular social-media apps purposely keeps kids addicted to the platforms.
State attorney General Ashley Moody filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, alleging that the apps use “manipulative” features aimed at maximizing the time young people spend on social media.
“We have been investigating for years the intentional development of online social media to addict children, to get them online, keep them online and then profit from that,” Moody said this week in an interview with The News Service of Florida.
The lawsuit, in part, points to features such as an “infinite scroll” design and auto-play features that attorneys for Moody asserted are particularly harmful to young people.
In addition to arguing that Meta has intentionally made social media addicting, the lawsuit alleges the company has deceptively downplayed negative impacts to mental health of teens and other young people.
The 38-page lawsuit contends that Meta has violated a law known as the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, which prohibits “unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practices, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.” The lawsuit also alleges the company violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
Moody’s office is seeking an injunction against Meta to prevent future violations of the state and federal laws and to award civil penalties and attorney fees for “willful violations” of the Florida law.
Moody’s lawsuit came on the same day that 33 states filed a similar lawsuit in California against the company, Meta, which defended itself by saying it has tools to protect minors who use the platforms.
In a statement provided to the News Service, Meta pushed back on the allegations in both lawsuits.
“We share the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families,” a spokesperson for the company said. “We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path.”
RODRIGUES
TARGETS GROUP
The chancellor of Florida’s university system is calling on schools to disband chapters of the group National Students for Justice in Palestine amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Chancellor Ray Rodrigues on Tuesday wrote in a letter to the presidents of Florida’s 12 state universities that the group released a “toolkit” that referred to Hamas’ initial attack on Israel this month as “the resistance” and said Palestinian students “in exile” are part of the movement.
In the letter, Rodrigues cited a Florida law that prohibits providing materials in support of a designated foreign terrorist organization. Rodrigues said at least two universities have National Students for Justice in Palestine chapters.
The letter did not identify the universities, but Instagram accounts exist for chapters at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. In calling for the chapters to be disbanded, Rodrigues said they could be restarted in ways that comply with state law.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to an appeals-court ruling that could help lead to the Seminole Tribe of Florida offering online sports betting throughout the state.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “It’s no surprise to parents that children cannot stay off their phones. This has been shown to be very addictive to children across the United States. It’s caused mental health problems and sleep problems.” — State Attorney General Ashley Moody, who filed a lawsuit this week accusing Meta of intentionally addicting children to social-media platforms.