A Florida greyhound kennel has failed in its bid to say compensation for monetary damages incurred by the state’s 2018 ban on canine race wagering, WUSF Information experiences.
Florida banned betting on greyhound racing after a public referendum in November 2018, and it was phased out by Dec. 31, 2020. (Picture: Portsmouth Greyhound)
D’Arcy Kennel, LLC, and its proprietor, Christopher D’Arcy, sued Florida in August 2019, alleging unconstitutional “taking of property.”
“The state of Florida … imposed such a extreme burden on the non-public property rights … that it quantities to a per se taking that fully deprives plaintiffs of all economically useful use of the property,” D’Arcy argued in his lawsuit.
“The [ban] is the purposeful equal to a bodily taking through which the state of Florida has ousted the plaintiffs from their area and from any profit from their property,” he claimed.
‘Nonetheless Free to Race’
In 2021, the Leon County Circuit Courtroom dominated in opposition to D’Arcy, noting he was solely prevented from racing canines at Florida pari-mutuel venues, whereas different tracks had been accessible elsewhere. This was “not a restriction so extreme as to trigger a taking,” dominated County Circuit Choose Angela Dempsey.
The kennels had been nonetheless free to “race their canines, they’ll nonetheless promote their canines, they’ll nonetheless preserve them as pets, and so they may even race them in wagered races in different states the place wagering on greyhound racing is allowed,” Dempsey wrote. “The one factor they can not do is race them in a wagered race in Florida.”
Final week, Florida’s First Courtroom of Attraction upheld that ruling. The three-judge panel added that the closely regulated nature of the playing trade meant D’Arcy might have moderately anticipated that his funding in greyhound racing may very well be impacted by opposed regulation.
“[The ban] doesn’t deprive racing canine house owners of their property; it merely regulates its use,” they wrote.
Modification 13
Florida was for a few years the epicenter of greyhound racing within the US till residents voted for Modification 13, which modified the state structure to ban betting on the game. An awesome 69% of residents backed the modification. Dwell Greyhound racing in Florida formally ended on Dec. 31, 2020.
Sarcastically, lots of the tracks supported Modification 13. Underneath Florida’s playing legal guidelines, pari-mutuel venues had been obligated to supply a sure quota of racing annually underneath the phrases of their gaming licenses, although it may very well be unprofitable.
The state’s pari-mutuel venues had for years been calling for a change in laws that might enable them to scrap racing altogether whereas retaining extra profitable playing video games.
D’Arcy could also be free to race his canines elsewhere, however as we speak there are simply two functioning greyhound tracks remaining within the US, together with Wheeling Island On line casino & Racetrack and the Mardi Gras On line casino & Resort, each in West Virginia.
