The Florida Supreme Court has already granted extra time to the state in the case challenging sports betting’s legality in the state. Now, it might give latitude for petitioner West Flagler to amend its arguments.
Last week, the Seminole Tribe of Florida filed an amicus brief in West Flagler’s action against the state’s sports betting compact with the tribe. In that brief, the tribe put forth arguments that had not previously been raised by the state in its response.
For example, the tribe noted several other states, like New Jersey, which also defined the location of the bet as where the servers for that operator are located.
The Seminole brief also put forth an argument that the state courts needed to give the legislature a wide swath of latitude when it comes to interpreting legislation.
With that in mind, West Flagler would like to file an “enlarged” reply brief acknowledging those arguments. The brief would expand from the initial 4,000-word limit to a 7,500-word document. West Flagler is currently in the process of responding to the state’s response, which was filed on Dec. 1. Given the new argument put forth in the amicus brief, the group would like extra words to respond.
According to the motion, the state has no objections to this request. Additionally, West Flagler does not intend to extend the process at the state level.
On the contrary, West Flagler is already under a ticking clock. The federal Supreme Court has granted an extension to file a writ of certiorari with them until Feb. 8. West Flagler requested the extension, in part, to give time for the state case to conclude.
The action is now with the Florida Supreme Court to grant or deny the motion to nearly double the word count of West Flagler’s response brief.
