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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — A federal law that effectively bans commercial sports gambling across most of the nation faced skepticism at the Supreme Court on Monday. A majority of the justices indicated that the law had crossed a constitutional line by requiring states to do the bidding of the federal government. New Jersey is leading the challenge to the law, and Chris Christie, the state’s governor, watched the argument from the front row. Americans are estimated to annually place $150 billion in illegal wagers on sports. If the Supreme Court strikes down the law, dozens of states could quickly make such wagers legal and reap tax revenues from them. The court’s decision, expected by June, could also affect other conflicts between federal and state authorities. At Monday’s argument, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said some forms of federal regulation of marijuana could be threatened by a ruling that allows sports betting. The betting law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, prohibited states from authorizing sports gambling. It exempted Nevada, where sports betting has long been legal, along with sports lotteries in Delaware, Montana and Oregon. Other states were given a year to opt in, but none acted in time. In 2011, though, as casinos in Atlantic City were losing revenue, voters in New Jersey amended its state Constitution to allow sports betting, and the state Legislature soon passed a law authorizing it. The four major sports leagues successfully challeng... Link to the full article to read more