Judge Terry Doughty | Horse Racing Free Tips

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will now hear oral arguments Aug. 30–slightly earlier than expected–in the injunction appeal brought by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Both entities are defendants in an underlying lawsuit that alleges unconstitutionality and federal rulemaking procedure violations regarding HISA's initial framework of regulations that went into effect July 1.

The Appeals Court docket previously indicated a September oral argument date was being planned.

At issue in the appeal is whether a lower court (U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana) erred in preliminarily enjoining HISA regulations that were purportedly harming the plaintiffs, who are led by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, plus the Jockeys' Guild.

The Appeals Court ordered Aug. 8 that with the exception of three specifically contested HISA rules, HISA's legal authority would once again be valid in the two plaintiff states until that court heard “expedited” oral arguments from the two sides.

What happens in the Appeals Court will affect other actions in the lower court that are currently pending.

One such motion that had been outstanding was the plaintiffs' motion for the defendants to be held in contempt of court for allegedly violating terms of the preliminary injunction.

But on Aug. 15, Judge Terry Doughty of the district court denied that motion on the basis that, “The filing of a notice of appeal confers jurisdiction on the Court of Appeals and divests this Court over their aspects of the case. Once jurisdiction has divested, this Court may not take any action that would alter the status of the case as it rests before the Court of Appeals. Because the appeal involves the Preliminary Injunction at issue, this Court lacks jurisdiction to enforce the preliminary injunction or hold Defendants in contempt.”

Separately, a Tuesday filing in the district court stated that a pending “motion to intervene” involving 14 affiliates of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and several other entities that want to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs has been assigned an Oct. 13 court date.

The post HISA Appeal to be Argued Aug. 30; Judge Denies Contempt Motion appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A federal judge on Thursday opted not to immediately grant the “expedited consideration” restraining order or injunction that opponents of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) alleged was needed to stave off the “irreparable harm” from “illegal rules” that are set to go into effect at midnight Friday.

But within several hours of learning June 30 that Judge Terry Doughty of U.S. District Court (Western District of Louisiana) had given HISA and other defendants two weeks to file a response to the restraining order motion, the lead plaintiffs from the states of Louisiana and West Virginia made a separate plea to the court, asking for an “immediate” status conference to address “the chaos created by HISA.”

The judge granted that request, and according to the court docket, a telephone conference was to have happened at 5:30 p.m. Eastern, some 6 1/2 hours before the first set of HISA rules was to go into effect. As of 7:30 p.m. Thursday, there were no notations within the docket that the court made any new orders as the result of that status conference.

For details on the new federal lawsuit filed June 29 that seeks to block the HISA rules from going into effect, click here.

“[T]hese issues are extremely urgent,” the plaintiffs stated in the motion requesting the urgent conference. “Plaintiffs face severe and irreparable harm if not granted a temporary restraining order before the legally deficient rules purportedly take effect tomorrow, July 1.”

The Department of Justice, which represents the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the defendants in the case, stated in a June 30 filing that “The FTC Defendants oppose Plaintiffs' requests. The three rules Plaintiffs challenge were approved on [Mar. 3, Mar. 25, and Apr. 1], All three were stipulated to take effect on July 1 by statute. Plaintiffs' eleventh-hour challenge to those rules on the eve of the statutory deadline is therefore an emergency of their own making. Having waited three months to come to Court, Plaintiffs are not entitled to abrogate the two-weeks that the Court has already allotted Defendants for their response briefs.”

The post Feds: Last-Minute HISA Suit An ‘Emergency of Plantiffs’ Own Making’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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