HISA, FTC seek stay of injunction given to Louisiana, West Virginia

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission have filed separate emergency motions in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a stay of an injunction issued last week by a lower court affecting HISA’s jurisdiction over races in Louisiana and West Virginia.

In the motions filed on Monday, both HISA and the FTC argue for an immediate stay of the injunction, which was granted by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Tuesday in response to a suit filed by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia; several groups representing racing constituencies in Louisiana; and The Jockeys’ Guild. The injunction prevents HISA from enforcing rules in both states until the judge can rule on the suit’s merits.

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In both motions, HISA and the FTC contend that the judge, Terry Doughty, applied a standard “found nowhere” in the Administrative Procedure Act to justify the stay. Doughty’s ruling said that HISA was required to post its rules for public comment for 30 days under the APA, but both HISA and the FTC said no such standard exists.

In addition, the HISA motion argues that Doughty’s injunction “constitutes flagrant judicial overreach,” and the authority asked the Fifth Circuit court to consider that two separate federal courts have already dismissed two lawsuits that included substantially similar arguments, one of which included both Louisiana and West Virginia as plaintiffs. Both dismissals have been appealed.