Despite West Flagler’s best efforts to deter the court, the Florida Supreme Court has granted the state of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis’s request for an extension to file a response in the state sports betting challenge.
Florida filed for the extension yesterday and West Flagler was quick to file its opposition. On Friday, the court granted the extension, which means DeSantis now has until Dec. 1 to file a response to West Flagler’s initial brief.
As attorney Daniel Wallach noted on Twitter Thursday, the extension buys the state some time while the calendar keeps moving forward in a potential US Supreme Court case on the same subject.
West Flagler has represented to SCOTUS that it will file its writ of certiorari by Nov. 20. With that deadline, West Flagler will need to pose its argument without being able to note any possible differences between the Department of the Interior’s argument at the federal level and Florida’s argument at the state level before filing.
The extra time also gives Florida and DeSantis time to explore the amicus brief filed by No Casinos, Inc. Filed earlier this week, the amicus brief calls the state’s agreement with the Seminole Nation “disrespectful” and “legal fiction”. The group levied these remarks at the idea that the location of an online sports bet is defined not by where the bettor and their device are but rather by where the location of the server is.
