HISA Remains In Effect Pending Further Court Action

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Nov. 18 overruled a District Court and ruled that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act is unconstitutional on the grounds that it delegates “unsupervised government power to a private entity.”

The lawsuit challenging HISA’s constitutionality was filed in 2021 by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, multiple HBPA affiliates, the state of Texas, and the Texas Racing Commission. The Fifth Circuit is one of 12 federal court circuits and its ruling is only applicable to the states of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. A parallel appeal of another District Court ruling that HISA was constitutional is now before the Sixth Circuit.