Federal appeals court upholds ruling that HISA is constitutional

The federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld its 2023 ruling that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act is constitutional in a decision filed Wednesday.

Plaintiffs in the case, led by regulators and track owners in Oklahoma, challenged the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority under the private non-delegation doctrine, which prohibits the federal government from allowing a non-governmental entity such as HISA to govern.

After Congress added a section to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act to explicitly give the Federal Trade Commission the final say over HISA, the Sixth Circuit Court ruled that HISA was constitutional.

The case and two other challenges to HISA were appealed to the Supreme Court, which remanded them back to the lower courts in June for further consideration.

One of those cases, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, argues that HISA unconstitutionally delegates governmental authority to a private corporation. The Fifth Circuit agreed and ruled HISA unconstitutional in 2022. The court upheld that ruling after the amendment to the act gave the FTC explicit oversight.

The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association is a party to that case, but not to the Sixth Circuit case.

Regarding the Wednesday ruling, National HBPA president Eric Hamelback said, "The National HBPA continues our litigation in the Fifth Circuit. There are different merits of unconstitutionality that are being challenged. And in fairness, we did not expect that the Sixth Circuit would have a differing opinion from their original."

The third case is in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2024 denied an injunction to stop enforcing HISA rules in the circuit.

Decisions in the cases in the Fifth and Eighth circuits have not been released.